The Price of Peace
by Boranbolt
Summary: Six years after the Fourth Ninja War the world still isn't peaceful. What will Konoha do against an unknown enemy with strange powers and a familiar enemy who is still after revenge when their overworked trump card is sick of being used, irritated by Konoha's hypocrisy, and tired of the endless fighting? Naruto X Hanabi with hints of Naruto X Sasame (mostly one-sided).
1. Introduction - Sakura Sealed

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. This is fanfiction, after all.

Official Start: six years after canon – "AK (after Kyuubi) 22, January 2"

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**Konoha General Hospital, Konoha – January 2, AK 22**

"I can't take no for an answer! You don't understand! I have to help her!"

"Sorry, there's just nothing I can do. Medical ninjutsu tells me that this is a vegetative state and my clan techniques confirm that diagnosis. And her condition is getting worse. I don't think she'll survive the night."

"Ino! Aren't you one of the best medics in the entire village? _Do_ something!"

Shikamaru closed his eyes as a blond black-clad boy wearing a white cloak depicting his Sage status grabbed a sobbing Ino by the shoulders and shook her repeatedly. Normally, Shikamaru would have told his friend to calm down, but Shikamaru knew that this was Naruto's way of showing grief.

"Naruto!" Ino yelled back, in tears. "Sakura may be your girlfriend but she is my best friend! Don't you think I would do something if I could? Even if Lady Tsunade were still alive, she wouldn't be able to do anything to help. It's almost as impossible as bringing a dead person back to life!"

"Gaara died! And he's still alive! There must be—"

"Naruto," Shikamaru interjected. Naruto was beginning to spout nonsense. Shikamaru knew that it was time to get involved before Naruto started suggesting forbidden techniques. Many evil ninjas had started their walk down the path to darkness with the best of intentions. "You know as well as I do that the technique Lady Chiyo used was a forbidden technique. Unless you're asking Ino to exchange her life for Sakura's, you might want to stop this. This isn't just hard on you; it's hard on all of us. You're hardly the only person in the village who cares about Sakura."

"B…but!" The blond Sage retorted before falling silent.

Shikamaru slowly nodded in approval as Naruto calmed down. Shikamaru had to admit that Naruto matured a great deal over the last six years. He figured it was the gauntlet of high rank missions that Naruto was constantly sent on. Seeing people regularly die and seeing the bloody unwanted ramifications of words said in a heated fit of anger were the fastest, although not necessarily the easiest, way for a person to mature.

"Sorry, Ino," Naruto said in a low tone. "I should have been more mature about this by now. After all, all of us know the risks of being a ninja."

Ino gave the other blonde a hug. "But your concern and compassionate for others makes you who you are. That's not a bad thing, Naruto. I'm just glad that Sakura has a caring boyfriend like you."

_Wham!_

The door swung open, revealing a breathless Kakashi and Shizune.

"I heard the news from Naruto's clone and I came as soon as I could. What happened?" The masked ninja asked without preamble. "More details."

Shikamaru nodded at Naruto to signal for him to elaborate.

"Kakashi-sensei, Sakura and I got into an argument and she had just left my place. It had been around thirty minutes since she left when I heard her scream from a few blocks away. I rushed out and found her entire body covered with seals. I managed to disrupt the sealing from taking complete effect, but after that Sakura just fell down and didn't move." Naruto recounted.

Shikamaru grimaced in trepidation. Naruto sounded rather calm, but there was hurt and anger just beneath the surface. Naruto clearly felt that he was partially to blame considering since he and Sakura had gotten into the argument that had Sakura running outside late at night.

Shikamaru didn't know who the culprit was, but the culprit would not get to live for long once Naruto got his hands on him or her.

"And the prognosis?" The Sixth Hokage looked at Ino, the village's master on the mind.

Ino shook her head. "She might as well be dead, Lord Hokage. Her brain is a complete mess. I checked with both medical ninjutsu and my clan ninjutsu."

Kakashi nodded. "I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to ask Shizune to take a quick look as well. It can't hurt to have another opinion."

Kakashi signaled for the medic to run through some diagnostic tests.

"Sorry, guys," Naruto interrupted sadly, "but I think I'm going to go back home since there's nothing I can do here. I'll be back in the morning."

Kakashi nodded. "I'll be here then to give you an update. Let's hope that she survives the night."

Naruto didn't comment on that. Shikamaru watched as Naruto just slipped by them to leave the room with his head down.

"You're taking it better than I thought," Shikamaru commented to the Hokage after the door closed. "Even if you're the Hokage and have to look at all of your subordinates equally, she's still your student."

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time I had someone close to me pass away before their time," Kakashi said grimly. "I suppose you could say that I'm used to it by now." He looked towards the door. "It's probably much harder on Naruto. Lord Hiruzen, Lord Jiraiya, Lady Tsunade, Chuunin Umino, and now Sakura. I'm worried that he's going to have no one he's close with in the village."

"There's you," Shikamaru pointed out with a frown. "Don't sell yourself short. You know Naruto cares a lot about you."

"Perhaps," the Hokage allowed. "Nonetheless, I'm still concerned about his state of mind."

"About that," Ino stood up and wiped away her tears. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes when her eyes went hard. Ino only got that look on the most dangerous of missions. "Something about Naruto's story doesn't add up."

"What do you mean?" Kakashi inquired. "Are you saying he lied? Naruto has definitely matured in the last six years, but he's still very open and emotional when it comes to Sakura. I doubt he could hide his feelings."

"Since when did Naruto let Sakura walk back home by herself?" Ino demanded. "Even when they weren't dating, he always followed around her like a guard dog. It doesn't matter if they were fighting. He would have tried to apologize to her the entire way back."

Shikamaru closed his eyes to think. That was true. Naruto hated it when others thought he needed support or protection and would lash out angrily. But Naruto himself always treated those around him like fragile pieces of art that needed to be handled with the utmost care. Despite Sakura being the strongest kunoichi in the village, Naruto made her protection as one of his top priorities. It was a poorly kept secret that Sakura acted annoyed but was secretly delighted with all the coddling.

"You're right," Shikamaru admitted. "At the very least, he would have sent a clone along with Sakura. Even assuming Naruto genuinely forgot, what are the chances that Sakura would be attacked the one moment that Naruto took his eyes off of her?"

"I am assuming that's why you lied to all of us about Sakura's mental state?" Shizune looked up from Sakura. "Sakura's perfectly fine as far as physical health. Mentally, she just appears as if she's asleep."

Ino crossed her arms. "When I used my Mind Body Dive technique on Sakura, I noticed that her consciousness was locked away with a seal. It was incredibly advanced fuinjutsu and covered extremely well with a genjutsu that made her appear as if she was brain dead. I don't know what exactly happened, but something seems wrong about this entire situation."

"Fuinjutsu? Naruto did mention seals earlier," Kakashi murmured. The Sixth walked over to the pink-haired woman lying on the bed. "Here, take me in with you. I'll try to see if I can break it."

There was only silence for a few minutes as the two entered Sakura's mind.

"Nope," Kakashi said as he opened his eyes. "There's nothing I can do. Whoever put this on her is definitely a master at the sealing arts. It's too risky to try and disrupt the seal. It might destroy her mind if we tamper with it carelessly."

"Are you saying _Naruto_ placed this on her?" Shizune asked incredulously as Ino opened her eyes as well. "Naruto doesn't even know fuinjutsu. And we know that Naruto loves Sakura! He'd give his life for her!"

Ino shook her head. "No, I know that Naruto cares. I also did a Mind Body Dive on him without him knowing earlier when he was still here. He has no memory of hurting her. Naruto was distracted with thoughts of ramen just after Sakura left and forgot to follow her."

"Only Naruto…" Kakashi muttered.

Shikamaru could tell that Kakashi wanted to slap his forehead. Shikamaru didn't blame him. Who the hell liked _ramen_ of all things so much that it would be more important than protecting a loved one? Even Naruto normally didn't have that short of an attention span.

Unless…

Shikamaru's eyes widened before understanding what Ino meant. Someone had put a genjutsu that disguised the seal inside Sakura's mind.

"You're saying someone put a genjutsu on Naruto to keep him out of the way?" he asked suddenly.

His old teammate nodded at him. "Considering that the genjutsu made it appear like Sakura was cognitively dead for all practical purposes, I think someone was hoping that we'd pull the plug on her ourselves. It would be an easy and untraceable way of killing someone. No blood and no outside damages. The genjutsu and fuinjutsu would disappear the moment she was killed leaving no chakra traces as well. Since it was obvious that the attacker made contact with Naruto, I felt it best to fool Naruto in hopes of getting the attacker to think that the ploy was a success."

Shikamaru nodded in approval at her quick thinking. To trick the enemy, you often had to trick your own allies as well.

"I see," Kakashi said. "I suppose this helps in other ways too. Naruto would be here all day and night until Sakura woke up if he didn't think she was going to die."

Shikamaru agreed. Naruto would adhere to his never-give-up nindo and stay next to Sakura as a show of support, refusing any missions that would take him away from her side for more than a few hours. But given Naruto's strategic importance out on the field, it was bad for Konoha.

"This entire thing is just too troublesome," he muttered. "Why do I have to think about the ramifications of every single event that goes on in our damn village?"

Kakashi didn't have to tell Shikamaru that it was because he was the ANBU Commander. Shikamaru had a duty to ensure the protection of the village at all costs. He was the knight on the chessboard, often placed strategically and hard to predict, but ultimately a sacrifice for the village. His complaints were minor in comparison to what would have to the children and the future generations of people if Konoha fell.

Still, Shikamaru hated keeping things from his friends, especially someone like Naruto who would never understand why. Naruto still had not completely forgiven Kakashi and the now deceased former leaders for keeping information about his heritage hidden.

Kakashi gave a bitter chuckle. "I understand you more than anyone else. But we don't have that that kind of luxury."

All four of them in the room knew what the Sixth was talking about.

There was a long pause. Shikamaru met Shizune's look. She wasn't too happy with this either but looked willing to comply for now.

He sighed in resignation. "Alright, I won't tell him."

As of that moment, Sakura Haruno was officially dead.

* * *

**Hokage Monument, Konoha – January 2, AK 22**

"Love. What a foolish emotion. It makes us hope for the best and never be prepared for the worst," Naruto whispered as he stared out at the village. "I really was an idiot for hoping that my love would cure all. In the end, people only care about themselves."

In the end, no one truly loved him. They loved _what _they thought he was: protector of Konoha and someone who sacrificed everything for those precious to him. They didn't love _who_ they thought he was: prankster and someone who jumped in before thinking about anything. And they didn't even know who he truly was.

"Underneath the underneath my ass," he snorted, "they can't even see beneath one layer."

He sighed as he looked up at the stars. "No more. I…I don't think I want to love again. It just isn't worth it."

He would die before he let himself be betrayed again.

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AN: And so we begin! I have the first twenty or so chapters (rough drafts) written out and a plan for the next twenty mentally written out in my head. So updates should be pretty frequent for some time. _Hopefully_. I like to go back to previous chapters and edit them a lot once I get new ideas and stuff, so I'm only going to post a chapter after I'm absolutely sure there will be no more revisions.


	2. Introduction - Enter Hanabi

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This is fanfiction, after all.

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**_Two months later  
_**

**Training grounds, Konoha – February 28, AK 22 **

Hanabi Hyuuga was a powerful ninja. Despite being only seventeen years old, she was one of the powerful twenty-five or so Konoha ninjas classified as A-ranked or higher in the data books. She could count the number of Konoha kunoichi stronger than her on one hand and still have fingers left over. Power was what continued to give her breathing room within her clan. It had saved her from getting sealed at a young age. It kept her father and the elders of the Main House wary and respectful. Strength was what kept the danger away. She had always felt that the clan's ways and traditions were like a boa constrictor squeezing the life out of her. She would not live her life as a trapped bird or a cornered rat. She was strong.

Despite her strength, however, she was not a natural genius like her late cousin. Her skills were earned through blood, sweat, and tears.

It was this mindset that led Hanabi out of her clan compound and towards the normal training grounds. Once Neji had died in the war, Hanabi realized that her family's style of fighting was insufficient in the face of overwhelming power. Neji had been a genius of the Gentle Fist; there were even whispers that he was even more powerful than her father, especially since her father was out of practice. But even someone as skilled as Neji had perished in the war.

The original Gentle Fist was a highly defensive style that forced the practitioner to move within a relatively small radius close to the ground. The midrange Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm, her sister's unique Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms technique, and a larger Kaiten radius somewhat extended the reach of the Gentle Fist user, but that did not change the fact that the Gentle Fist was highly limited.

Hanabi initially tried to make simple modifications in the Gentle Fist techniques to make them less rigid and more fluid. Instead of using abrupt turns and sharp strikes, she flowed with her blows and used her agility to slide into her next move instead of pulling back. To allow her to fight even in the air, she added jumps and chakra-releasing kicks and jumps to give her more maneuverability. The last thing her enemies would see would be a captivating dance before their lives were cut short.

_Boom!_

She froze when she heard an explosion going off nearby in one of the training grounds. Her eyes narrowed and she turned her Byakugan on. No one trained at this time of the night and especially not with loud and destructive ninjutsu. It probably was a fight.

It took a few minutes and a couple more explosions before she arrived on Training Ground 7. She saw a blond young man about to throw what looked like a chakra shuriken at one of the few trees remaining on that side of the training grounds. Given the appearance, it probably was the legendary Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, the technique of the legendary Toad Sage Naruto Uzumaki, the clan head of the newest noble clan Uzumaki.

"Lord Uzumaki?"

"Ah," the young man turned around and the ball of chakra dissipated. Hanabi saw markings disappear from his eyes. "You're Hanabi, right?"

"I was not aware that we were on first name basis, Lord Uzumaki," Hanabi answered in an irritated tone. She wasn't nearly the stickler for formality as her father was but she still valued in maintaining outward respect for others.

"Well, I give you permission now. You can call me Naruto! And I'll call you Hanabi. It would be strange to call you Hyuuga since I'm familiar with some others in your clan."

"Lord Uzumaki," she said coolly, ignoring his displeased look. If he wanted to annoy her, then she would annoy him by disregarding his wishes. "What are you doing out at this time?"

The immediate response was a deadpan look.

"What do you think?" the Sage said, pointing to the craters in the training grounds. "I'm practicing my ninjutsu."

"At this time?" she inquired, slightly surprised. She hadn't thought a legend like Sage Naruto would even need to practice. "I highly doubt that this is a part of your regular training routine."

"Ah, well about that," Uzumaki's mood suddenly plummeted, "I'm trying to distract myself."

"Distract yourself?"

"Well that and let anyone who might be watching know that I have everything under control."

She gave him a strange look. She wondered if it was an unspoken law that S-ranked ninjas had to have some kind of strange quirk. The Sixth was an open pervert. And the teacher of her cousin's teammate Lee was rather unusual as well.

"How does destroyed half a training ground with ridiculously dangerous ninjutsu at midnight convince anyone that you're in the right state of mind?"

"Well because I'm known to be rather brash and rowdy. One of my missions was successful, but ended up with a ton of collateral damage and took the lives of a few of civilians that I had been protecting. If I went back home and acted as if nothing were wrong, Kakashi-sensei would never leave me alone. I'm fine and I understand that being a ninja is risky business, but _they_ don't think I know that. By showing him the tantrum that he expects, I'll have to deal with fewer people trying to fuss over me."

That made sense.

Sort of.

Although…Hanabi wondered why Uzumaki didn't bother trying to change the opinions of those around him instead of just reinforcing the negative reputation he had. It was almost as if he wanted to be known as an immature child.

"Well, anyway, enough of me. So little firecracker, what brings _you_ out this late?"

Hanabi was jerked out of her thoughts.

"I'm not 'firecracker,' my name is Hanabi (fireworks)," she quipped immediately before realizing that the response just made her sound childish.

She was tempted to glare as the Sage laughed. "Aren't you a cute little girl? But, you didn't answer my question."

"Well…I…" Hanabi started out slowly.

She didn't want to tell him about her training routine. She was trying to incorporate ninjutsu into her style to give it more range and versatility. The only problem was that her father and the elders would not be pleased. They strictly followed the Hyuuga tradition of using purely the Gentle Fist to fight. Her modifications already were stretching the rules. So she decided to do her new training late at night and out in the training grounds instead of the clan compound so that no one would find out.

So it would be bad if the news somehow got back to her clan.

"Aha! I know. You were doing something naughty!" Uzumaki crowed in victory.

Hanabi controlled herself as best as she could but she felt her face flush red in anger and embarrassment at the insinuation. Still, it was best if he thought she was doing something perverted rather than find out about her training. So she would further mislead him.

"Lord Uzumaki…" she growled out. "How and where I spend my nights is none of your business!"

The blonde ignored her comment. "Aww…Hanabi is being a rebellious little teen," he cooed. She was about to retort angrily when the Sage became completely serious. "Don't worry, you can tell me. My lips are sealed."

"What?" She looked at him incredulously. Did he think that she was going to tell him details about her love life just because he wasn't going to tell anyone else? Admittedly, being the daughter of an intimidating clan head and a princess of the strongest noble clan in the village, she had no love life, but she wasn't going to say that to anyone.

Uzumaki rolled his eyes. "Look, it's crystal clear that you're doing some kind of forbidden training that you don't want your clan finding out about."

Hanabi was floored. Did the man read her mind? "Um…h…how?"

Did the man know how to read minds? She had given no indications that she was training or that she was trying to avoid detection by her clan.

The mood suddenly became light again. "Ohh, I get it! You thought I implied you were doing something perverted, huh?"

She wanted to growl in frustration but settled for repeating her previous question politely. "How did you know?"

If someone as notoriously unobservant as Uzumaki was able to find her out, then she needed to figure out where she went wrong.

"Wearing training garb with training gear, chakra levels at nearly full capacity, wide awake, heading towards direction of Training Ground 41 before turning to come here."

"That couldn't be the case! Even if you were a sensor, I wasn't even using chakra before I changed directions. Tell me the truth! How did you really know?"

Uzumaki grinned. "Now that would be kissing and telling. In any case, like I said, my lips are sealed. I promise. And I never go back on my word. So don't feel too upset that you were caught."

Uzumaki and his promises were famous throughout the village. There were rumors that because he used to house the greatest of the bijuu, he was subject to the laws of demons. And there were plenty of old folklores saying that demons were unable to break their promises. Hanabi didn't really believe in any of those tales, but she knew that Uzumaki had never broken a single promise to date. Her secret was safe.

"It's not just that," Hanabi murmured softly, calming down with a few deep breaths.

"Oh?" Uzumaki just raised an eyebrow.

"I'm also frustrated that I got caught. It just reminds me how far behind I am compared to a legend like you."

The Sage nodded. "You're an elite in the ninja arts, one of the strongest in your clan's history. But you're trying to break out of the shell of an A-rank and move into the territory of the masters. In strength, you seek to remove the shackles placed on you by your clan. In power, you hope to find freedom."

Hanabi didn't even react to the comment. She figured by now that the Sage was somehow able to read her mind. She would have to settle for not outwardly embarrassing herself. She was skilled at maintaining her distance from others behind a wall of formality, but the Toad Sage managed to tear that wall down in less than ten minutes. She briefly wondered if this was why Hinata _still_ had the tendency to blush brightly and even occasionally faint in front of the man. The Toad Sage just had a way of getting reactions out of people.

"There are many days that I wish I hadn't been born as a Hyuuga. My sister has found her purpose in trying to fix our clan. But for me, I feel that the clan is preventing me from discovering my own purpose. Father tells me that the clan is everything and the bonds of family should be placed above all else, but…" she trailed off.

"You want to be acknowledged as your own person." Uzumaki said knowingly. "I understand how that feels. At first, people saw the Kyuubi instead of me. Eventually, they acknowledged me, but they saw me as the one holding a bijuu. They saw me as an instrument of war. My life has been defined by that. Even now, they fail to see me as _me_. They see the Toad Sage, the apprentice of the Lord Jiraiya, the Uzumaki clan head, the son of the Yellow Flash, and the Golden Sun of Konoha who led the Grand Alliance to victory in the Fourth Shinobi World War."

Hanabi noticed something change in those blue eyes. She couldn't determine exactly what it was, but it reminded her of the first time she saw him.

_Flashback_

_"Hanabi, pay close attention to this battle. Neji possesses the thickest Hyuuga blood. His eyes surpass those of your sister."_

_"Even more than big sister's?" Hanabi asked._

_"Yes, and mostly even yours," her father replied._

_As her father had commanded, she paid close attention to the battle. But her eyes were drawn towards the orange-clad boy. _

_"Byakugan," she whispered. _

_She looked at his body movements, his eyes, and the atmosphere around him. Even after he was hit with the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms and had no chakra flowing through his chakra points, he never lost his confidence._

_She heard some people laugh at the boy's bravado, but she noticed something different. She couldn't figure out what was drawing her attention to the boy, but she knew that there was more to this boy than what most people saw._

_"Father?" she tugged at her father's sleeve. "Who is that boy that Neji is fighting?"_

_"His name is Naruto Uzumaki. Be wary around him."_

_Hanabi could certainly agree with that. There was just something odd about Uzumaki, even beyond the strange red chakra he was using to defeat her cousin._

_End Flashback_

Hanabi reflected on that. Perhaps that's what she saw in him all those years ago. A kindred spirit not only searching but also struggling to find an identity.

"Well?" She snapped her attention back to him.

"Yes?" Uzumaki was giving her an expectant look, but she didn't know what he wanted.

"Don't you think this is a grand opportunity?" Uzumaki said with a happy look. "The setting is perfect, with the nice calm evening wind and the moon is bright. Some would say that something 'magical' could happen tonight."

For a second, Hanabi just stood there as she processed his words.

Then…

She felt chakra raging around her hands and feet menacingly before realizing just who she was about to assault and calming down.

"Lord Uzumaki, don't you think you have better things to do than to make passes at someone you have only met a handful of times?" she tried to say the words in the most polite way she could, but couldn't hold back the annoyed tone in her voice.

Uzumaki ignored her and fixed her with a stare before circling around her like a hawk. "Hm…not bad. Not bad at all. You look quite flexible too."

Hanabi found her self-control beginning to crumble. She was respectful and polite, but there was only blatant flirting she could take without retaliating in some manner.

She snapped when she found him completely ignoring her and ogling at certain private areas of her body. She was wearing the traditional Hyuuga training robe, which didn't show much at all, but it was the principle of the matter.

She struck at him with chakra-coated feet and palms and took a stance as he jumped a few meters away with a small smile.

"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm," she screamed out, trying to blast the pervert away.

Her eyes widened as she felt a change in the atmosphere and saw the Sage backhand the invisible pulse of chakra and knock it to the side where it detonated on a tree.

_What a ridiculously fierce aura. This feeling! _

She suddenly discovered that her breath was ragged from the incredibly pressure around her.

But that feeling disappeared as quickly as it came.

"The Gentle Fist techniques," the Sage said in a serious tone, "with the sole exception of the chakra-intensive Kaiten, are most effective with direct contact. Aside from issues with lack of agility, which are resolved by a primarily defensive stance, there are nearly no flaws in the Gentle Fist, so a fight at close range with a Gentle Fist user is usually deadly. The only way to fight Gentle Fist user is to attack from distance since they have neither the range nor the mobility to reach beyond a certain distance. Even if the attacks themselves do not work, the Gentle Fist user will eventually tire."

Hanabi stood there stunned at his sudden change in attitude and his skill. Not only was he completely right about the weaknesses of the Gentle Fist style, the Sage had initially been less than half a meter away from her, well within the fighting range of a Hyuuga, and he had still taken no damage.

"A…ah…" she stammered.

"Okay," the Sage smiled. "I'll train you for tonight! We'll magically transform you to a kickass kunoichi by the morning!" he frowned and put his finger to his chin before adding, "not that you aren't already, of course."

"Huh?" She was so confused that she was reduced to using one-word responses.

Uzumaki looked at her and sighed dramatically. "You're out here to train, right? I just got a glance at your stance, which tells me a lot about how you fight, and one of your signature techniques. I've thoroughly examined your body so I know what types of movements you are capable of. I'm offering you a rare chance to be trained by the Toad Sage. Isn't that great?"

"B…but…" she stammered again, "weren't you flirting with me? Weren't you making comments about my body and how you wanted to…um…sleep with me?"

He looked confused at that and then smiled innocently before pointing at himself. "Who? Me?" She nodded dumbly. "Nope," he said after thinking for a few seconds. "Can't recall doing so. I remember commenting on the weather, saying that it's great for some magical training, and then commenting on your stance and physical condition."

_Flashback_

_"Aha! I know. You were doing something naughty!" Uzumaki crowed in victory._

_~break~_

_ "Don't you think this is a grand opportunity?" Uzumaki said with a happy look. "The setting is perfect with the nice calm evening wind and the moon is bright. Some would say that something 'magical' could happen tonight."_

_~break~_

_Uzumaki ignored her and fixed her with a stare before circling around her like a hawk. "Hm…not bad. Not bad at all. You look quite flexible too."_

_~break~_

_The mood suddenly became light again. "Ohh, I get it! You thought I implied you were doing something perverted, huh?"_

_End Flashback_

Hanabi groaned out loud, not even caring that she was in front of someone else. "You tricked me again."

The Sage laughed at her. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I did no such thing! You just have a dirty mind, accusing me of flirting when I was just trying to help you out."

"I wasn't on expecting something like that…" she pathetically said, ignoring his denial. Ninjas often spoke in double-speak and triple-speak so it was obvious that the man wasn't going to admit to anything openly. She held her head down in shame. The Sage had been testing her and she hadn't even come close to passing.

Uzumaki put his finger on his chin to think. "Now, I'm assuming that you're trying to build upon your Gentle Fist rather than starting over from scratch. Judging from your strikes, it seems as if you developed a Gentle Fist style that incorporates jumps and kicks instead of only the traditional palm strikes. No offense, but your range still sucks and your ranged attacks suck even more."

Hanabi looked glumly at the area that had been completely blasted to bits by her technique and pointed. "That pathetic, huh?"

"Not pathetic," She had expected to see him taunting her or making another annoying comment but he was giving her a serious look, "but not well suited to your style."

There was a strange confidence in his words. The Sage was stating things as if they were simple facts.

She was confused. Almost everything she heard about the young Toad Sage seemed to be wrong. From the older generation she learned that he was brash, loud, immature, and disrespectful. From the younger generation, including Hinata, she learned that while he was incredibly powerful, compassionate, and loyal, he was lacking in intelligence. But her own experiences told her something else altogether: he was _deadly_. She could feel the power in that aura of his just waiting to be unleashed.

"You know," she replied, nodding when he asked her if he could touch her, "you're not at all what people say you are."

"That so?" Uzumaki laughed softly at that before walking to her and holding her arms in different fighting positions to see which of them would best suit her. She noted that he was taking extreme care not to be indecent. He was simply touching her as a master would his disciple than a man would a woman.

"Yeah…" For some reason, the fact that he was so proper made her feel more self-conscious than if he were actually enjoying being that close to her and touching her. _Why is my heart beating so quickly?_ Hanabi thought. _I…I barely met him and he's having such a strange effect on me._

"Tell me…what chakra natures can you use?"

She found herself responding automatically without even thinking about the consequences of freely giving away information. The Sage's charisma somehow had greatly affected her. "My chakra leans towards wind, but I can also use water. I don't have too many techniques though. I just learned the bare minimum to become a jounin. Until recently, I focused almost exclusively on the Gentle Fist."

The Sage nodded before fixing her with an intense gaze. "Wind and water, huh?" he paused, "What a coincidence…"

She kept staring at him with her white eyes as his blue eyes bore into her. There was so much in emotion in that gaze of his but, despite those emotions being in plain sight for her to read, she could not decipher any of them.

He was definitely not what people said he was. He was the perfect example of what a shinobi should be. Powerful. Intelligent. But most of all, _deceptive_.

* * *

AN: Just saying...some reviews would be nice so I know what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong. And it might encourage me to update a bit faster =)

I also noticed that it had said THREE months instead of TWO at the very top before I recognized that something was wrong lol. I initially had it set up to be March 28 instead of February, but I wanted most of the next few chapters to be set before Hanabi's 18th birthday. I'm sure people noticed the mistake, but not a single person mentioned it. Ugh. Now I have to go chase down and correct every mention of "three months" in subsequent chapters.

Oh well.

Thanks!


	3. Introduction - Plots to Unite the World

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. This is fanfiction, after all.

* * *

**Hokage's Office, Konoha – March 1, AK 22**

"Kakashi-sensei, am I on your shit list or something?"

Kakashi found himself sighing in exasperation for what had to be the millionth time since becoming the Sixth. He was irritated whenever Naruto was involved because he never found the time to read _Icha Icha_.

The series had gone on even after Lord Jiraiya's death. The editors had been given the mountains of notes that Jiraiya had written and had more than enough notes to continue the stories. It was a good thing, too. Otherwise, Kakashi might have thrown himself off the Hokage monument in despair.

"Naruto! Language!" Naruto merely rolled his eyes at Shizune.

Shizune had continued to work as the Hokage's aid after having done the job for so long under Tsunade. Kakashi had been too lazy to find a new assistant and Shizune had wanted to remain as the Hokage's assistant to eventually help Naruto better when he became Hokage.

That was the official excuse, at least.

Kakashi smiled as he looked at the woman fondly. Neither of them would reveal the true reason.

Kakashi turned his attention back to the situation at hand. Naruto was dramatically waving his hands in the air in an exaggerated attempt to be polite.

"I suppose this would be better then," Kakashi rolled his single visible eye at the sarcastic tone. His student was going to do something childish. Again. Sure enough, Naruto took a quick bow. "My liege, your humble servant begs to be killed. It is better for this sinner to perish than to suffer the wrath of my lord."

Kakashi sighed yet again while Shizune—the traitor—giggled.

Naruto always had been difficult to handle because of his energy and stubbornness, but had been easy to manipulate in the past. Offering techniques or information about his parents went a long way in getting Naruto to behave. Lately, however, it was getting much harder to trick Naruto into falling in line.

Perhaps the direct and honest approach was the best.

"Naruto, I am merely trying to do what is best for you and for the village. Contrary to what you might believe, I am not trying to hurt you. While Konoha's economic and military strength is at an all time high, that's only in terms of numbers. The quality of our ninja is at its all-time low. During Lord Hashirama's time, we had over fifty A-ranks and seven S-ranks. We only have half those numbers with only twenty-five A-ranks and three S-ranks even when we've been out of war for six years."

Naruto crossed his arms. "I understand. You're telling me that I should teach a bunch of brats because it would help me mature and that Konoha can benefit from having another team like the Sannin, especially after _our _team fell apart. I am the youngest ninja to reach S-ranked status since Itachi and you believe that I can impart that knowledge and drive to these kids."

Kakashi almost let out a sigh of relief. Naruto was still loud and obnoxious at times, but he could be insightful and dedicated when he chose to be. Now all he needed to do was stamp the damn document and then find a secret closet where no one could find him so he could read his _Icha Icha_.

"Very good. I'm glad you und—"

"The answer's still no, Kakashi-sensei." Kakashi suppressed an urge to bang his head on his table. This day just _wouldn't_ end. "Look, I know you think I'm being unreasonable, but try to look at things from my perspective. You had me running almost forty consecutive S-ranked missions—most of them solo—over the last two years. That's more S-ranked missions than what some of our strongest elite jounin do in a lifetime. You still had me going on these missions even after my ex-girlfriend died. I never got to mourn properly. Then on top of that, you always make sure to do your best to time my mission so that I'm always in the village to suffer through that monthly hell called council meetings. And now you're telling me that you want to shove a bunch of brats onto me."

Kakashi wanted to break something. Perhaps that was why Lady Tsunade always started and ended the day with some sort of property-damaging move. This job was just too annoying. People complained, people demanded, people never listened and _never ever_ praised. Kakashi would cackle with glee the day Naruto took this damn job away from him.

"If it makes you feel any better, Lady Tsunade had me going on consecutive S-ranked missions after the Sand-Sound Invasion. That was when I was still teaching the three of you. So it's not like I've been asking you to do something I wouldn't. You, more than anyone else, understand that sacrifices need to be made. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

"The old man used to love saying that." Kakashi noted the glazed look in blonde's eyes. It was clear that he was reminiscing about the old days. "He was probably the most compassionate of all the Hokages, with a heart for the poor."

It was true. The Third was often unable to make hard choices or often made the wrong choices because he was too compassionate. Naruto's early life was the consequence of one such choice. But at the same time, that compassion for the poor was why Konoha was economically the healthiest of all the nations. Cleaning up the streets and educating and empowering the poor made for a more skilled and less violent population.

"Naruto, for the last six plus years, I've had to allocate resources where they were needed the most. That's why I was held off from giving you students; you were needed for other critical missions. Our numbers were ridiculously low after the last war and despite the era of peace that followed, there were lots of missions to be done. You were the only one who could complete these missions at the insanely fast pace that you set. And that bought us a ton of breathing room. Now, even in the wake of recent attacks on our border, we have the luxury of assigning you students and building up the future generation. I'm trying to give you a break here."

Naruto glared at him. "A break?" Naruto asked incredulously. "How is being responsible for three lives a _break_? At least on solo S-ranks I don't have to worry about protecting other people."

Kakashi groaned. He could just never win with Naruto no matter how he tried to phrase things. Once Naruto decided that something was a certain way, there was no convincing him otherwise. "How about a compromise? I'll let you choose your own students."

"Don't care," Naruto folded his arms. "It's like asking me to pick which poison I want to be fed. It's like me asking you which of your _Icha Icha_ books you're willing to let me burn. How about I teach the kids and I burn your _Icha Icha _books?"

Kakashi twitched. It almost seemed like his student was being difficult on purpose. That, and the damn boy had the gall to threaten his precious. _No one_ threatened Kami's gift to man and got away with it.

Shizune jumped in at this point. Kakashi gave her a quick nod of thanks. He was one second away from driving a Raikiri through the cheeky brat's chest. It might be best if someone else tried to talk reason into the boy.

Kakashi watched as Shizune walked over and gave Naruto a hug. It was always like this with Naruto. He would play bad cop and then she would play good cop. Naruto usually was more agreeable when Shizune delivered the bad news.

"Naruto, is there anything we can do for you to do this?"

"Shizune, shouldn't you be on my side? The masked bastard has been overworking me and now he wants to control my life! Kakashi-sensei, don't think I don't know what you're doing. You're worried because you think I don't have any more ties to the village. Most of the people close to me are dead or out of the village. So you're trying to use this opportunity to get me to make more bonds so you can be assured of my loyalty."

Kakashi winced. Naruto didn't mince any words. It was true. Kakashi _was_ worried that Naruto had no ties to the village anymore. But…at the same time, Kakashi didn't doubt Naruto's loyalty. Kakashi was trying to ease Naruto's loneliness by giving him students.

"Look," Kakashi said, "I was like this as well after all my close friends died. I joined ANBU to isolate myself as much as possible. And remember that I didn't pass any team before yours? Well it's because I didn't want to pass any teams. I know what you're going through and I'm trying to help. I do not doubt your loyalty at all," Kakashi looked mournfully at his student, "I'm sad that you think so little of me."

Naruto sighed. "Okay. I'll do it. But I want something in return. I only want to take missions that I approve of. No more of these pointless political assassinations or preemptive strikes in the name of protecting Konoha. You're tired of making hard decisions, but Kakashi-sensei, I'm tired of executing your hard decisions out on the field. I'm really tired."

Kakashi nodded. It was the least he could do. The casualty rates would skyrocket, but it seemed like Kakashi had pushed Naruto a bit too hard. Anymore and they would lose him. That would be disastrous. Not just for Konoha, but for him as well. He had a responsibility to take care of his sensei's only son and his best friend's legacy. Within Naruto lived Obito's true feelings. Kakashi would do anything to ensure those feelings never died.

"Alright, we have a deal. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry for what I made you do over the years."

* * *

**Outskirts of the Land of Rice Fields, Land of Rice Fields – March 1, AK 22 **

Ranmaru activated his eyes and set up illusions in case anyone was following. The illusions were only visual and would fade upon touch, but it would buy him some time. Time he needed to talk to his sensei.

"You are late, my minion," he heard as he approached the meeting ground. His sensei was dressed in a completely black cloak with a mask that only Ranmaru's eyes could see past.

He panted. "Not all of us can just pop up anywhere we want like you do, Sensei! If you really cared about the time, you could have teleported to me and brought me here with you. It would have taken what…two seconds of your time? And damn it," he said angrily, "I'm not your minion!"

His sensei tapped him on the forehead hard. "Think of it as your training. Stealth training. _Minion_."

Ranmaru glared at his teacher with his bright red eyes. To anyone else, his red glare might have been terrifying. But to someone like his teacher, it was probably only amusing.

"I hate you so much, Sensei," he spat out. "Speaking of which, I heard the name you gave yourself."

"What of it? Kabuto asked for a name and I provided one."

"But Taiyou no Kuroi Kokuten? That has to be the most ridiculous name I ever heard! Besides, it sounds like a play on—"

"Ranmaru, I did not come here to hear you crack jokes. I need your report now. You do not have much time to waste either."

"Alright," Ranmaru grumbled. His teacher was right after all. Ranmaru's illusions were good, but they were still just illusions. Someone would eventually discover that he was missing. "Kabuto is getting bolder with the seals you provided him."

"How so? Is he altering them?"

"No, it's nothing like that," Ranmaru replied. "But he's challenging you. He directly defied your orders and placed the seals on warriors marked with the Cursed Seals of Heaven and Earth to increase his battle strength. He hasn't made any direct movements against the great villages, but he has intentionally used his spy network to trace missing ninjas and eliminate them for bounties. I believe he's hard pressed for some money."

"It's not surprising. After all, he is paying us quite a large sum of money for the Dispersion Seals."

Ranmaru frowned. His sensei didn't seem too worried that Kabuto was straying from the plan. Did his teacher expect this? Or was the money so important that his sensei was willing to compromise?

"Just what are you doing with all the money you're getting from Kabuto anyway?"

"Foolish apprentice, did you think the weapon that you're carrying on your back was made free of cost?" Ranmaru put his hand back to touch his staff. "That weapon is the result of over a hundred failures. I must remind you, apprentice, that even failures cost money. The amount I have left from my clan funds is impressive, but it is still not infinite." There was a slight pause. "It would also appear strange to the banks if I kept burning through money at the rate that I do."

Ranmaru lowered his head in shame at that. He hadn't known that his teacher had labored so much to produce the gift. Ranmaru had always had some difficulty molding chakra properly. He would become too fatigued too quickly and many of his techniques would dissipate midway. While he had excellent chakra control, it was almost as if he just didn't have enough chakra to do anything. His initial fighting style had involved using illusions and tricks with his ocular powers while his teacher sought out a viable solution to his problems.

The solution had been his fifteenth birthday gift. The Star Staff was made of chakra metal and multicolored opal and embedded with a ruby (fire), sapphire (water), emerald (earth), yellow topaz (lightning), and diamond (wind), each special self-sustaining seals that produced its respective chakra. His teacher had been the energy source for three while Ranmaru's own chakra somehow was the base for another two. His teacher said something about how he was able to amplify Ranmaru's chakra to make the fusion work, but most of that went above Ranmaru's head.

In any case, with that, the Star Staff, a staff that only allowed Ranmaru to wield it, had been made. The staff took no chakra to use and acted according to his will.

"Sorry for my impertinence, Sensei," Ranmaru said in an apologetic tone. It was difficult to stay too serious because his teacher wasn't even a decade older than he was and because his teacher didn't mind the jokes most of the time. So Ranmaru had to constantly remind himself that he owed his life to his teacher.

Ranmaru had been working at the curry shop for several years when war broke out across the land. Ranmaru didn't have any marketable skills and was on the verge of starving when his sensei had found him almost five years ago.

Ranmaru didn't show it too often, but he was truly grateful to have a dedicated mentor and direction in life.

"It's fine," the man replied. "After all, you're not the only person I spend my money on. Little Yuna requires quite a lot of attention as well."

"That's true." Ranmaru laughed at that. Yuna was a little girl that his teacher found a few years ago. His teacher left her in the care of another one of his associates but visited her often. Ranmaru also visited whenever he could and from what he knew, the girl was a handful.

"In any case, that is irrelevant. Is there anything else?"

"Ah, that reminds me. Were you the one who killed Sakura Haruno?"

"How is that relevant to what Kabuto is doing?" Ranmaru could hear a small growl.

Ranmaru put up his hands defensively. "Don't worry! I'm not trying to waste your time. Kabuto recently heard from his spies in Konoha that she was assassinated. I thought it might be you but you don't like unnecessary bloodshed."

There was a long pause. "Essentially yes, although she isn't dead. The seal on her will eventually break and she will wake up. I just needed her out of the way. Konoha either killed her themselves once they found her a waste of space or covered her death up in an attempt to lure me out."

"Didn't the original plan involve her support? Didn't you want to draw her to our side because of her mastery in medical ninjutsu?"

"I revealed myself to her and presented to her the option of joining us. But, she seemed determined to stop my plans so I had to remove her from the picture."

"But Sensei, then who will take her spot? You know some medical ninjutsu, but you can't take the role of leader, fighter, spy, sealing master, and medic all at once. You're strong, but even you can't completely take over the world by yourself!"

Ranmaru didn't know the extent of his sensei's plans, but he did know that his teacher wanted to unify the Elemental Nations.

"We can't force someone unwilling to join us," his master said curtly. "We will have to manage without her. I will begin training Yuna in medical ninjutsu instead. Yuna's chakra control rivals Sakura's and is beyond that of anyone else so Yuna may end up taking that role in the future. In the meantime, keep spying on Kabuto while pretending to be a loyal Oto ninja for about another month. I shall call upon you once again fairly soon."

"Wait," Ranmaru looked at his teacher curiously. "What about Kabuto?"

"What about him?"

Ranmaru looked at his sensei disbelievingly. "Are you just going to let Kabuto get away with disobeying your orders? He's attacking ninjas now!"

"I will look to the side for now as long as he's not attacking civilians. And besides, he's only attacking missing ninjas who deserve to be killed anyway. It will be a good chance for us to see the results of the seals being tested in real combat against real ninjas. Do you have any reports on how effective they are on the field?"

Ranmaru frowned. "Given that Kabuto has taken missing ninjas out without a single casualty, I think that those seals of yours are _too_ effective. Aren't you worried that he might betray you?"

His sensei chuckled at that. "Oh, he most certainly will. It is the reason those Dispersion Seals are so inefficient and have a time limit. He has a limited supply."

"I think he's found a way to create your seals for himself, Sensei. It would explain why he has gotten so bold as to defy your orders on multiple fronts."

"Keep an eye out just in case, but it should be impossible to reverse-engineer the Dispersion Seal without perfectly understanding the branch of fuinjutsu I personally invented. For its ultimate purpose, it requires a special type of energy not known to most ninjas. I will admit, however, that it is possible for Kabuto to have found a way to extend the life of those seals so that he could use them over and over again. But don't let that bother you. I have a failsafe implanted in the formula in case he's found a way to reuse them."

"Mind sharing what that is?" Ranmaru asked, after realizing that his sensei had purposely left that unclear.

"Why spoil the fun?" Ranmaru shivered at the cold, deadly tone. It was one of those rare moments when he realized that his sensei was one of the deadliest fighters in the world.

* * *

**Palace Hall, Gelel Continent across the seas north of the Land of Wind – March 1, AK 22**

It had been six years since Karin Uchiha had decided to forgive and then follow Sasuke. It had been the three of them, three former member of Team Hawk. Sasuke had wanted to find truth through exploration and reflection. She and Juugo were absolutely loyal to Sasuke of they followed him. Suigetsu, on the other hand, left them and had decided to rejoin Kiri.

She thought back to the past. In end, Orochimaru had never given up his interest in finding the truth of the world through acquiring and experiencing as many techniques as possible and had eventually attacked Sasuke. From Sasuke's account, the mental battle had been even more pathetic than the time when Orochimaru made his first attempt. Sasuke once again absorbed Orochimaru and the power of the white snake, but this time in less than a minute and this time permanently annihilating Orochimaru's spirit.

That had been five years ago.

After that, for a year, they had traveled throughout the Elemental Nations, saving villages from bandit attacks and searching for whatever it was that Sasuke was looking for. Sasuke even took up a couple part-time students along the way to impart some of his techniques, although he never let any of them follow. Karin wondered if Sasuke was trying to leave his mark on the world in some way in case he couldn't revive his clan.

They now lived in an unnamed land across the seas from the Elemental Nations. Initially, there had been some opposition to them living in the strange land, but Sasuke personally had crushed any resistance with ease without even killing a single person. It was a show of power and a psychological attack to show that he was far above any of them. Sasuke was sending them a message that he could afford to leave them alive because they were of no concern.

It was how Sasuke swiftly became the ruler of the new land.

Since then, Sasuke only continued to train daily and become stronger. He trained with such manic obsession that Karin doubted even her distant cousin, Naruto, would be a match for Sasuke.

In the Elemental Countries, the S-ranks were heralded as near invincible fighters. There were maybe twenty or so S-ranked ninjas in the Elemental Nations at any one time. Each could completely change the atmosphere on a battlefield.

Karin snorted. In her opinion, none of them met the requirements of a true S-rank. A true S-rank is one who has S-ranked capabilities—meaning the ability to easily take down elites—across multiple disciplines. None of the known S-ranks were_ true_ S-ranks.

Without his lightning armor, which gave him speed, defense, and power, the Fourth Raikage was nothing. The Sixth Hokage, from what she had heard, severely lacked the endurance to support his S-rank power. The Fifth Hokage had only been feared for her physical strength and medical ninjutsu. The Fifth Kazekage was also one dimensional, using only sand as the basis of his fighting style. Even Naruto, the renowned "Golden Sun" of Konoha, was nothing without his endurance and immense chakra reserves.

Sasuke, however, was a master of ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, and weaponry all at the same time, even without his Sharingan. He even had branched into fuinjutsu. He was the first true S-rank since Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, with no true weaknesses.

"Karin," she heard Sasuke's voice call out.

"Yes, Sasuke?"

She turned to see her cloaked husband standing a few meters away from her, having just arrived using a space-time ninjutsu.

She was annoyed that he kept using his space-time ninjutsu to ignore doors and walls, but she wasn't going to tell him not to. In this land, Sasuke was king and he ruled with an iron fist. While he cared little for formality or verbal respect, he did not accept disobedience.

"It is time."

She gasped. "But, isn't it too soon? So many projects haven't been completely yet! To start now would be reckless."

Karin knew that Sasuke was itching to fight against the Elemental Nations, but this was madness! They didn't have enough firepower to take down the five great villages and the dozens of smaller villages. And that wasn't even counting the conventional forces and legions of samurais they would have to fight against.

"No, it might already be too _late_," Sasuke said in a low tone. "I have just come back from the main continent and seen evidence that the countries are amassing power. Konoha especially is amassing power at a faster rate than we predicted. The low casualty rates they had in the last few years are almost unbelievable. Their quick rise may threaten all our plans. To ease your worries, for now, we will move slowly, using our influence from afar rather than using direct confrontation."

Karin frowned. "What power could threaten the power of the Gelel Stone? The stone itself is powered by spirit of nature itself. It'll take time, but we'll even be able to perfect the fuinjutsu we created to prevent the usage of chakra within a certain radius. You know as well as I do that chakra is the lifeblood of any ninja. Even the bijuu would be powerless facing this."

Numbers meant nothing if they could perfect their seals. Their seals would render any ninja helpless.

Sasuke shook his head. "I'm not certain, but I can feel it in my blood. The Uchiha blood is borne for battle and I felt it roar in anticipation while on the main continent. I know at least Naruto Uzumaki will not have sat around for over six years doing nothing. He will have found a way to fight even if we drain every bit of chakra from his body. I would never underestimate him."

"You always used to call him a blockhead, so why the fear now?" Karin asked curiously.

She knew that Naruto was strong, but Sasuke never had seemed to respect him. She suspected that it had something to do with their animosity during their genin days, but she was slightly taken aback by the open praise he was giving to his old teammate.

"Karin," she turned to see Juugo, who had just walked into the hall. "This is something only someone who has had a rival would understand. The two of them are incredibly alike, working for the same goal but for different reasons and by using different approaches. Sasuke knows better than anyone that Naruto seeks power."

"Power?" Sasuke repeated in a low tone. "Juugo, you're wrong. We both seek _justice_. He continues to fight to protect the helpless, the poor, and those he loves. I, on the other hand, seek justice for those who have unjustly been killed and forgotten. For us, power is merely a means to an end. If there were a way to achieve what we seek without power, we would have done it. But this world…this world only fears power."

Karin nodded. "Yeah. So that's why we've been trying to tap into the power of the Gelel Stone for the past year or so."

Sasuke inclined his head slightly in agreement. "The power of the Gelel Stone's strength lies in the fact that it takes away power from the enemy while leaving me with mine. It is about crushing the opposition with a force they cannot fathom."

"Why not just get stronger?" Juugo interrupted. "With more power, you'll just crush everyone in your way. Why specifically search out a way to limit other people's power?"

Sasuke shook his head. "Eventually, a human will hit his limit. Ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu. I have hit the physical limits in all of the ninja arts. There is only so much chakra a human body can hold and only so much skill, speed, and strength a person can have. One solution is to seek a new type of power. The other is to take away the power of others to raise your _relative_ power. We are doing both by using the Gelel Stone. By stripping away chakra, we are removing the lifeblood of the ninjas who will oppose us while we ourselves are using a foreign power unknown to them."

"I see. That is why you're learning how to fight without chakra," Juugo muttered. "And also why you're having us do the same."

Another nod. "It will take a fantastical amount of power to take on the world. The Gelel Stone will be something that none of the great villages expect and will allow us to swiftly run through them."

"Wouldn't that be the case for Naruto Uzumaki as well? What makes him so special?"

"I'm not sure, but I can feel my blood warning me that Naruto Uzumaki will be a threat to my plans. If he does get in the way, this time," Karin stepped back, startled at the sudden appearance of the red Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan in her husband's eyes, "I will crush him once and for all. For the sake of _my_ justice. For the sake of my family…for the sake of the dead who cry out to me from the other side."

* * *

AN: How did you like my characterization of Kakashi? Even if this is an anti-Konoha story, I'm trying not to portray anything in black and white. Or what about Sasuke? One thing I noticed with a lot of stories on this site is that, with the exception of a few writers, most make their characters one-dimensional: Sasuke is often a selfish and arrogant prick; Sakura is almost always a screaming banshee; Danzo might as well be the devil; Hinata is a pure and sweet girl with no flaws aside from her stuttering; Naruto can do no wrong. It's not necessarily a _bad _thing, but since it's so common on this site, I've elected to try to make many of my characters as complicated as possible. It's just more fun that way. I can't let you love or hate any of them too easily.

That reminds me of something else. Someone PM'ed me just to ask me why I ruined my story _already_ by making it Naruto X Hanabi. Well, that's precisely because of that reason I made it Naruto X Hanabi. I don't want my story to become just one of the hundreds, if not thousands, of great Naruto X Hinata stories or even one of the dozens of decent Naruto X Sakura stories. In comparison, there are only two or three Naruto X Hanabi stories of considerable length...which means more than 100,000 words. I have a chance to do something different here!


	4. Introduction - New and Old Feelings

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. This is fanfiction, after all.

* * *

**Training Grounds, Konoha – March 1, AK 22**

March 1. September 1.

Those were the two days when students in the different ninja academies graduated. They were two different tracks.

In March, the students projected for heavy combat would graduate from the official Academy, while in September, the students projected for support would graduate from the other various support schools and conservatories in the village.

The support academy system was a good way to prevent unnecessary casualties among children and rookie ninjas who weren't suited for battle to begin with. Instead, they could be sent to the medical corps, research and development units, or administration departments. They would be given some combat training at home to slowly bring their skills to a low chuunin level over a decade and would be used as reserves in emergencies.

Many civilian parents understandably elected for their children to take this route. There was the prestige associated with being a ninja without many of the dire costs.

On the other hand, official Academy was filled with clan children who had family expectations to live up to and orphans who had no one to hold them back. Jounin would come to see if they wanted to take on any of the new graduates. The ones who did gained a strong teacher. Contrary to popular belief among the clan children, the ones who failed ended weren't sent back to the Academy but were sent to a basic training program along with the ones who failed the regular graduation exam. This basic training program had them become average chuunin in about a decade. Occasionally, some of them would even become special jounin, ANBU, and jounin, but for the most part, most ninjas who entered the basic training program ended up as mediocre. Not that that was a bad thing. After all, a large bulk of Konoha's ten-thousand-strong army was produced this way.

Only the rare few were granted the honor of being trained under a jounin and even fewer were granted apprenticeship. Konoha did not have the luxury to have most of its hundred or so jounin babysitting children, even if it was a right of passage for jounin to be saddled with brats at least once in their careers.

It just so happened that it was Naruto's turn this year.

Naruto just twitched as he looked at the brats he was supposed to consider as potential students. The ten-year-old kids were fidgeting in excitement at the prospect of being taught by a legend. Naruto sighed. In his opinion, kids engaged in too much hero worship. He personally knew two of them from his visits to his old orphanage and felt a sense of kinship with them, but he wasn't too excited about having to be responsible for kids.

"Alright, we'll be doing introductions even though we all somewhat know one another. I'll begin," he said as the three excited ten-year-olds settled down. "As you all know, my name is Naruto Uzumaki." He scratched his head. "I really don't know what else to say so you might as well introduce yourselves now."

The brown-haired girl wearing pink and yellow and carrying a small cat decided to introduce herself. "My name is Hikari Kamiya and this kitty here is Tailmon. Naruto-sensei, I'm not sure if I ever introduced her to you when you visited. Tailmon usually tries to hide whenever someone visits us. I found her on the streets three years ago and she's been my friend for a long time now. I'm not from a clan or anything so I don't have any special skills of note. Oh and I still have the hair clip you gave me. See, here it is."

Naruto looked at the pink clip on her head as the cat meowed as if to introduce itself as well. Naruto smiled. He often visited the orphanage to donate goods and play with some of the younger children. It was sweet that the girl still kept his gift from a few years ago.

He pointed to the blonde who was dressed in a yellow and turquoise outfit and wore a hat. The boy was carrying a large rodent with rather large ears on his lap. "Next?"

"Takeru Takaishi. I've known Hikari for my entire life because we were family friends. I visit her regularly at the orphanage. I live with my brother right now. This is my pet guinea pig that I received from my parents before they passed away. They said that he's a ninja guinea pig, but I never really see him do anything but eat and poo. His name is Patamon."

The guinea pig squealed and flapped its impossibly large ears. Naruto briefly wondered if the rodent could fly with those strange ears. Considering that it was a ninja animal, it probably had some unusual ability.

Naruto suddenly had a strange vision showing Patamon temporarily expanding and blowing out a burst of air as it screamed _Boom Bubble! Pah!_

Naruto shook his head. That couldn't be right. His mind was playing strange tricks on him again.

Maybe it was some sort of trend for children to have strange pets these days. The fact that Tailmon and Patamon both had "mon" at the end of their names was probably a fad as well. _Ugh…kids… _Naruto groaned.

Well at least the last one didn't have a pet. Naruto smiled as he turned to the last one. Ah, it was Daisuke. This one somewhat reminded his old self. "Daisuke, why don't you introduce yourself?"

"Aww…Naruto-sensei, you already know me and they know me from the Academy," Naruto gave him an exasperated look, "Okay, okay! My name is Daisuke Motomiya! I'm going to become the Hokage one day!" Naruto snorted. "And then I'm going to marry Hikari!"

Naruto noticed that his other two students were rolling their eyes at the spiky-haired boy. This must have been a common occurrence at the Academy.

"Sensei, what are we going to do today?" Hikari ask in a polite tone. "Are we going to start missions right away?"

"Don't worry, Hikari! I'll protect you!" Naruto smacked his forehead as the idiotic boy leaned over to hug his crush only to be scratched in the face by hissing Tailmon. "Ow! That hurts!"

Naruto got their attention by leaking some of his aura to subtly make them a bit nervous. "You won't have a mission today. You still aren't official genin."

"What?" Takeru asked in shock. "Didn't we pass the exam?"

Naruto shook his head. "That was just the test to see if you are worthy of being of the rare few to get a teacher. If you fail this test, you'll either have to go back to the Academy to try again next year or go into basic training that most ninjas go through. You still can be ninjas, but you won't have someone watching over you and helping you along the way. I recommend that you try your best for this."

"Well, I'm going to do extremely well on this test!" Daisuke yelled with a fist pump.

"As well as you did on the regular graduation exam, I'm sure," Naruto said sarcastically. "Last place in nearly everything but taijutsu. Good luck impressing little Hikari with those scores."

Everyone had a laugh at Daisuke's expense. "So then what are we doing for this test?"

Naruto held up two bells. "For this test, you'll have to get a bell by noon, which means you have an hour left. The test begins…now!"

Naruto was impressed that the three of them immediately became serious and jumped away to hide. He had half expected Daisuke to stay and challenge him, but it appeared as if Daisuke was smarter than he himself was when he was a genin.

_Or maybe he's just not as starved for attention as I once was_, Naruto thought darkly.

Naruto just sat down and waited for them to come to him. After all, they would come to him to get the bell.

After fifteen or so minutes, Naruto jumped up quickly when he felt projectiles heading towards his direction. He pushed off the tree with his feet and ducked to avoid the windmill shuriken heading his way.

"Not bad," Naruto complimented as he saw another windmill shuriken underneath the first one. Deciding to go for overkill, instead of trying to jump in between the shuriken, he molded chakra in both of his hands as quickly as he could.

"Rasengan!"

Naruto blew both of the windmill shuriken to bits and swept his hand towards where the shuriken had come from.

Instantly a huge gust of wind erupted from his hands and chased out the screaming Daisuke as trees and bushes were uprooted.

"Hey! Don't you think that's a bit too much, Naruto-sensei? I'm only a kid!"

Naruto only laughed as he flashed through hand signs and created a rotating whip made of water that he was planning on showing Hanabi that evening. "Water Release: Hydro Rotation."

He kept chasing the boy with the whip, all the while cackling with glee. Maybe teaching wasn't so bad after all. _I think I understand why Kakashi liked doing this so much._

Naruto froze when he remembered a particular memory. Kakashi had shoved his fingers in _there_. Naruto shuddered. Naruto knew he could be particularly vicious with his pranks, but he wasn't going to violate his cute little students in that manner. He was not as cruel as Kakashi.

He smirked as he returned to the matter at hand. He just missed Daisuke and slammed his water whip into a tree trunk, blowing it apart. Chasing students with an incredibly dangerous whip was nowhere near as screwed up as what Kakashi did. No one would blame him for being too excessive.

Naruto suddenly felt a tingling in the back of his mind. _Genjutsu_.

Instantly he snapped it, and parried the kick from Hikari. "Leave him alone!" she yelled.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. Maybe the girl did like Daisuke after all. She seemed rather upset that Daisuke was reduced to cowering behind a large bolder.

Naruto briefly saw an image of Sakura over Hikari before shaking his head. He shouldn't project his own genin team onto the team he was teaching. Daisuke was not him and Hikari was not Sakura. Already, Daisuke was showing much more skill than Naruto ever did and Hikari, unlike Sakura, was showing teamwork with and concern for _both_ of her teammates.

Naruto grabbed Hikari's ankle as she tried another kick and cast a small genjutsu on her while holding her upside down in the air. _Ninja Arts: Partial Darkness._

He watched lazily as the girl screamed and writhed.

"Hey, stop hurting her!"

Naruto just held out a lazy hand and grabbed the kunai thrown towards him with only two fingers, much to the shock of his hat-wearing student.

"Oh? Is it your turn now? Oho! I see how it is. You're in love with her!" Naruto taunted.

Takeru suddenly looked shocked and the hard look in his eyes faded. "Aww, not you, too, Sensei! Daisuke always keeps trying to fight me because he thinks Hikari and I like each other."

Naruto didn't respond and threw the girl into Takeru's stomach, knocking them both back. Daisuke landed next to them worriedly.

"Is Hikari okay?"

Naruto watched bemused as the two boys tried to shake Hikari awake. His kids were fresh and raw, but they instinctively knew what was important in a fight. They hadn't even tried to fight alone from the very beginning. Daisuke had implicitly agreed to be the distraction for Hikari and Takeru. The fact that there were only two bells didn't even register in their minds.

Despite the seemingly public displays of dysfunction, the three were close and knew one another well. Already, their teamwork was probably better than any other rookie genin team in history.

_I wonder if that's because all three of them are orphans. Orphans want attention and camaraderie more than anything…_

"So what are you going to do?" Naruto drawled.

"The girl you both are in love with is down and you have less than five minutes to get your bells."

They both flushed at the mention of love. They looked at each and nodded.

Daisuke stepped forward. "I never really got the hang of this, but…" He flashed through some hand signs Naruto was familiar with. "Fire Release: Fireball!"

Naruto was shocked that the boy knew an elemental technique already. Sasuke had been the only one of their generation to know an elemental technique. No matter what people said about him, Sasuke was still a _genius_, the kind that only shows up once every decade or so.

Naruto braced himself but then started rolling on the ground in laughter when the "fireball" ended up being the size of a baseball and slower than a snail.

Naruto grabbed his stomach and started kicking the air in laughter as the small fireball zigzagged through the air lazily towards him.

"What the hell was that, you idiot?!" Takeru demanded. "How am I supposed to set off my traps with _that_ as a distraction?"

"Well he's distracted right now!" Daisuke argued.

Naruto just kept on laughing as the small fireball passed over him and hit the tree next to him with a small _poof!_

Naruto's danger senses suddenly warned him.

"Tch," he muttered before waving his hands and blew all the incoming projectiles away with a large gust of wind.

_Boom!_

Naruto looked towards his students. "You could have blown up the bells that way, you know."

He was amused when both of his students twitched at his statement. They had probably been expecting an indignant rebuke saying that explosive tags were dangerous. That _had_ been dangerous—well not really—but Naruto wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of knowing that they had even triggered his sixth sense that warned him of danger.

_Ding!_

"Well, that's time." Naruto held a hand up and released the genjutsu he placed on Hikari.

"Hikari!" Takeru pulled the girl up and gave her a hug. "Are you okay?"

"Takeru?" she asked, clearly dazed. "What happened? There was so much darkness. I couldn't see anything."

"Hikari! We tried to protect you from that bastard of a teacher! He was the one who hurt you!"

Naruto rolled his eyes at the drama and stepped towards his students who were all on the ground. "You failed to get a bell. So you all fail."

"Meow!" Naruto turned to see a little white cat leap past him and land in Hikari's arms.

"Tailmon!" Hikari said as she rushed over and hugged the cat, "You got them! I knew it was the right decision to send you to the marketplace!"

"Hm?" Naruto looked and in its mouth, there were three bells, exactly identical to the ones he had.

Naruto's eyes widened. _No way! I can't believe they solved the actual test! _

"We pass, Sensei!" Hikari said victoriously. "All you said was that we needed to get a bell. You never said we had to get it from _you_."

Naruto dumbly nodded, still in shock. The surface test was a test of strength to see if the genin could get a bell. It was impossible and was supposed to alert the genin of a secondary test, a test of teamwork. It was a way to teach the genin that there is always something beneath what is shown to them. Underneath the underneath, however, was yet another test of thinking outside the box. It was true. Naruto never said they had to get a bell from him. But the test was designed to keep people focused only on what was directly in front of them.

He himself was an example of this. People only saw his brash side pulling pranks and declaring that he would become Hokage. His closer friends saw his determination and loyalty under that. No one, however, saw his resentment towards the village and fatigue from serving a village that never truly accepted him. Everyone refused to see his insight, his intelligence, and his pain.

His students had done in one hour what the rest of the village could not in twenty-two years. Naruto smiled. Despite his reluctance to teach, he was happy and proud of his students. They would eventually become amazing ninjas.

"Good job. You pass with flying colors. All three of you."

"Wait…" Daisuke began.

"All that work…" Takeru continued. "All the fighting we did was…"

"…for nothing?" Daisuke said disbelievingly. "Are you freaking kidding me?!"

"Well, I wanted to teach you multiple lessons here. First, you had to know that you couldn't get a bell from a jounin. That should have brought you together. If you can't overcome an obstacle, work together. The essence behind this test was not strength but teamwork. All of you pass on that mark. Hikari came to defend you, Daisuke, and well both you and Takeru worked together. All three of you worked together initially to set up that trap as well."

"Then even if Hikari didn't have Tailmon bring the bells, you would have passed us?" Takeru asked.

"Yes," he said simply. "I was going to see what you would do after I gave you, but not Hikari, the bells. But it's annoyingly clear that both of you would have fought to give up your bell for little Hikari there. She's lucky to have two boys in love with her." Naruto smirked and pointed at the now blushing girl.

"But then, what was the point of Hikari getting the bells?" Takeru asked.

"There's always a different way out. Remember that. As ninjas, we're taught to look beneath what is shown to us, but I want to teach you to look even deeper than that. When you're looking at situations or people, always make sure to keep searching deeper and deeper."

"Does that mean that we're supposed to assume that Daisuke isn't a lovesick idiot?" Takeru asked with a smirk.

"Hey! Take that back, Takeru!" Daisuke shouted as he grabbed Takeru's collar.

Naruto looked at them curiously. Takeru hadn't seemed like the type to start fights, but perhaps Naruto had read him wrong. Takeru seemed just as willing as Daisuke to stir up trouble. Naruto couldn't help but show a little smile. Yes, his students _weren't_ a reincarnation of the old Team Seven. Naruto just had to get over the ghosts of his past.

"Nah," Hikari piped up. "That would make sense if he started to have a crush on me when we became ninjas, but he's liked me for years. He's a legitimate idiot."

"Aww…Hikari…" Daisuke whined. "That was mean."

"Sorry, Daisuke, but you couldn't save me even after promising to protect me," the girl crossed her arms and turned her head to the side. "I would have given you a big _reward_ if you did, too." She made a kissing motion with her face.

She instead went over to Takeru and gave him a hug, which Takeru gladly returned.

They all laughed as Daisuke rolled on the ground in emotional agony and moaned about "lost chances."

* * *

**Hyuuga Clan Compound, Konoha – March 1, AK 22**

Hinata stood at the end of the small pond owned by her family and looked at the reflection in the moon. She had been stressed for the last year or so and had found her new habit relaxing.

It had started when Naruto eagerly accepted when Sakura asked him to be her boyfriend almost two years ago. That had hurt. Hinata had all but poured out her heart for Naruto before and during the last war and still it wasn't enough to win the heart of the boy she adored. After the war, Naruto had politely refused, saying that while he cared for her, he simply did not know her well enough to return her love. Still, Hinata had hoped. She had hoped with time on her side that Naruto would eventually get to know her and return her love. A meal here and a talk there. She did all she could to make herself visible to him.

It still hadn't been enough. Sakura regularly abused him and yet Naruto instantly agreed to commit himself to her. But Hinata, more so than anyone else, knew that Naruto truly loved the other girl.

Naruto getting the girl he always dreamed about and chased after. Naruto finally breaking through to Sakura after his years of persistence and refusal to give up. The story…their relationship had felt so…_right_.

Sakura was bright, confident, and strong; Sakura was the very antithesis of who Hinata was. Thus, Hinata didn't begrudge Sakura for her relationship with Naruto.

However, when she heard Sakura had died, Hinata had started to hope again. She felt guilty for being happy that one of her friends had passed away, but that guilt felt small in comparison for her desire to be with the one person she adored for her entire life.

But there was still no progress on that end. Naruto was constantly on missions and somehow slipped away whenever she tried grabbing a hold of him. If she didn't know any better, she would say that he was purposely avoiding her.

Then before Hinata knew it, it became March. She had been so engrossed with trying to get Naruto's attention that she had forgotten that Hanabi was turning eighteen that month.

Because the elders had deemed her weak and unfit for the position of clan head, Hinata was not the Crown Princess of the Hyuuga clan when she reached adulthood more than four years ago. Now that Hanabi was turning eighteen, there would be a challenge match. The stronger of the two girls would be named the official heiress and the other would have the Caged Bird Seal placed on her.

It was lose-lose for Hinata. If she won, then Hanabi would be sealed. She didn't want her little sister to be sealed. But if Hinata lost, then she herself would be sealed.

Hinata wasn't too close to Hanabi, but they were still sisters. How could the elders be so cruel so as to pit two sisters in what might as well be a battle to the death?

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even sense the person who came behind her.

"Big Sister?"

Hinata turned around. "Hanabi? What are you doing out here?"

Her sister hesitated and looked uncomfortable.

Hinata smiled. Ah. So that's what it was. Hanabi was sweet on a boy and had been looking to sneak out.

"I just needed some fresh air," Hanabi finally decided. Hinata's gentle smile remained. It appeared that Hanabi wasn't going to admit it.

Hinata nodded before turning to look at the water and started throwing the petals off the flower she was holding into the water. There was a legend that if the petals floated towards the girl who tossed them into the water, the one she loved would come seeking for her. The petals didn't particular float one way or another on most days, but that didn't stop Hinata from trying and hoping the petals would float towards her.

"I usually come here whenever I feel that way," Hinata responded. It was true. Whenever she did get stressed about Naruto, she did end up in front of the pond.

"I see," Hanabi murmured. Hinata knew that Hanabi understood the hidden meaning. "Thinking about him again?"

Hinata gave no response for a minute but merely continued to lightly toss the petals into the pond.

"Not just about him, but yes, I was thinking about Naruto."

Hanabi came to stand next to her. "Can you tell me about him?"

Hinata instantly grew suspicious. Hanabi never talked about boys when she was growing up. Even when boys had showed interest in Hanabi, the girl had not mentioned it at all. This was the first time she showed any sort of interest in a male.

Hinata didn't have proof that Hanabi was interested in Naruto, however. It could still just be an innocent question. She mentally sighed. She really needed to stop letting her feelings for Naruto getting in the way of everything else in her life. Kurenai-sensei kept warning Hinata not to be too obsessed, but it was just so difficult not to be fixated on the only person and thing that gave her life meaning.

"Naruto is the most compassionate and determined person in the world. He never backs down and continues to get back up whenever he's thrown down, always fighting for what he believes in and for those who are in need. A true hero."

"I see."

Silence. Then…

"Why do you ask?" Hinata asked. Even Hinata had to wince at the accusatory tone in her own voice. _Calm down, girl. It's Hanabi. She's refined and cultured. There is no way she would go after Naruto anyway._

"Don't worry, big sister. I'm not in love with him or anything." There was a slight pause. "Even if I were in love with him, do you think he loves me? I can count the number of times I talked to him on one hand. I'm just curious because you love him so much. Everyone says he's unintelligent, perverted, and rude."

Hinata nodded, finding herself strangely happy that Hanabi insulted Naruto.

Hinata figured that it was because it meant Hanabi wasn't interested in Naruto but Hinata felt a bit shamed at being happy at someone had put Naruto down nonetheless.

"Hanabi, someday you'll discover that intelligence or the appearance of respect aren't the most valuable things in this life. Naruto may be unintelligent, but he knows his purpose. Naruto may not be respectful to those with positions of power, but I have never once seen him abuse or mistreat anyone. Our own clan has never given a single ryo to an orphan and often scoffs at commoners. Naruto regularly donates at least half his wages to the needy and speaks with them in a respectful manner. The poor, I daresay, would say that Naruto is more respectful that the Hyuuga clan. Our village is blessed to have someone so strong and kind like him."

"He sounds like a wonderful person, big sister. I…" Hanabi paused before going on, "I think I can understand why you like him so much."

Hinata narrowed her eyes at that comment, but chose merely to nod her head. It wasn't healthy to be so paranoid that she would suspect her own sister of trying to steal the man she loves.

"Whenever Naruto speaks to me, I get a warm glow in my heart that makes my life so much brighter. Love is an amazing feeling, Hanabi, and I hope you'll get to experience it someday."

There was just silence as Hinata watched the petals float away from her.

* * *

**Training Ground Seven, Konoha – March 1, AK 22 **

"You're late," Hanabi heard as she arrived.

"My apologies, Lord Uzumaki," Hanabi said with her head low. "I was…" she tried to find the right words, "held up."

"I understand." The Sage didn't seem to mind too much as he nodded in acceptance. "Life gets in the way sometimes. What's important is how you play the cards that life deals to you. So shall we begin?"

Hanabi nodded eagerly. The previous night's training session had helped her tremendously. By some stroke of luck, Hanabi had the exact chakra alignment as the Sage. He too used wind primarily and had water as a secondary nature, so he was able to help her far more than anyone else had in the past. And that was all in just one night.

"Unfortunately, as mentioned before, I'm not able to practice at home. But I did review the concepts in my head and practice without the use of elemental chakra," Hanabi replied. "And I did go through the basic motions to incorporate this new technique in my fighting style."

"Great, let's see it now!"

The style that they designed for her the previous night resolved the range issue. According to Uzumaki, the problem with ranged attacks was the high chakra cost. Because the opponent has the ability to see the attack coming, most ranged attacks would not hit and thus made them a waste of energy. The Hyuuga's Eight Trigram Vacuum Palm was required too much chakra and had nowhere near the speed that was required to make it viable option for a battled involving purely ranged attacks.

Hanabi had felt lost at that point. It seemed that what Uzumaki was trying to do was make her both a close-range and long-range specialist at the same time. Was that even possible? Would she be able to switch back and forth between two styles?

It was then that the Sage smirked and told her to forget about trying to incorporate ranged _attacks_.

She still was stunned by the sheer brilliance of his idea. The Gentle Fist was simply not a style suited for distance fighting so the Sage said that there was no point in trying to use it as such. Instead, supplementary ninjutsu would be used to bring the battle to a point where her Gentle Fist would work.

Instead of chasing her enemies with attacks, she would bring her enemies near to her. This involved using water nature manipulation to create a tiny but durable whip that would cut through the air to grab her enemies and bring them into the range of her attacks. The water whip itself could be used as a ranged weapon as well in an emergency, even though it wasn't quite the deadly kind of weapon she would need in such a fight.

Unless she specifically scheduled a training session in the training grounds, which she couldn't do too often given the thousands of ninjas wanting to use them during the day, she had to train on the clan grounds. And that would reveal that she was trying to use other styles than the Gentle Fist.

So during the day she had practiced the motions using invisible chakra strings. Anyone using a Byakugan would have seen her whipping around a chakra thread, but at least there would be no visible damage to the grounds and most Hyuuga did not use the Byakugan in the clan compound unless training. And those who saw would just assuming that she was practicing chakra control. Now all she needed to do was to go through those same motions using water.

"Water Release: Water Whip," she intoned softly after going through the motions. She felt her chakra be converted to water and then take the shape of a long rope. She faced down Uzumaki and prepared to use the whip to grab him as he instructed her to.

She swung her whip and commanded it to rush towards the Sage only to have it completely broken apart by another water whip, if it could be called that. It looked more like a tiny rapidly rotating vortex of water in the general shape of a long rope.

"Water Release: Hydro Rotation," the Sage remarked as she lost complete control over her own whip. "That was a good first attempt, but you focused too much on creating the form of the whip itself. How it appears doesn't matter. If your whip gets destroyed, then you're just wasting chakra as you try to make it again. You need to create something that won't even get destroyed by a rock. Watch."

Hanabi watched with her Byakugan as the Sage swung the water rope at a nearby rock and smash it to pieces. She noted that there were five different sets of streams of water that were spiraling throughout the rope at independent but all incredibly rapid rates.

"I see," Hanabi murmured. "The velocity of the water was what gave its tangibility, not the water itself. I was too narrow-minded."

Uzumaki nodded. "As are many people." he changed the whip to be a stable rope simple filled with water and repeated the motion at a tree. The whip splashed in a small burst of water and disappeared upon impact. "Chakra itself isn't your weapon, Hanabi. It's how you use chakra that counts. Now try it again. You don't have to use rotation to the extent that I did, but it's what will keep the rope from being destroyed the moment it touches something."

Hanabi pondered for a minute or so, trying to figure out the ideal set of hand signs. "I need it to grab and to hit, but I can't expend too much chakra on it to keep it constantly rotating at a high frequency," she added a few seals, "so maybe only one set of rotation instead of five…"

She created another whip that looked somewhat a cross between her first water whip and Uzumaki's whip and threw it towards the Sage who merely swatted at it. Instead of bursting the instant it hit, the whip wrapped his hand, before expanding and trapping his entire hand in an orb of water.

"Hm…" the Sage looked at his water-covered hand. "Instead of using a tremendous amount of chakra to constantly keep the water rotating in multiple streams, you make it rotating in only one direction and compensate for the relative weakness by responding to changes in the water in real time. You're actually controlling every drop of water in your whip. So it doesn't matter if it bursts momentarily since it's all attached with your chakra; you can just reshape it immediately to trap the entire area. I'm impressed. You took advantage of the fact that you have amazing chakra control. What are you going to call it?"

"Water Release: Burst Whip."

He nodded. Okay, now practice it with your Gentle Fist and I'll give you tips on how you could improve. "I used to be a pure close-range fighter was as well and know some of the difficulties of trying to expand into mid-range and long-range."

For the next half hour or so, she practice grabbing different objects and bringing them closer to her as she rushed towards them for a Gentle Fist strike. She was rather satisfied with the results. She maintained the elegance of the Gentle Fist style by appearing like a ribbon dancer while increasing her reach to at least twenty meters away from her, a vast improvement of her original range of four or five.

"Alright," Uzumaki said. "Test it out on me. I'll let you catch me if I feel your attempts were sufficient enough."

She nodded "Alright."

_Water Release: Burst Whip!_ She yelled in her mind as she converted her chakra into water and then saturated the newly formed water with her chakra.

She noted glumly that Uzumaki was far too quick to be caught by her whip. She instantly created another one and started trying to fence him in. _All I need is just one touch. If I can make contact with him…_

She felt the tug on her chakra signaling that she managed to hit him and then forced the water to expand and ensnare. Instantly, before he could apply his chakra to attach himself to a surface, she quickly tugged to launch him in the air toward her direction. She quickly released her water technique and raced towards him at top speed to strike him with her Gentle Fist.

She jumped with her palm back and glowing with chakra. Three more seconds until she would hit him.

Two.

One.

"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"

She sputtered as a burst of water hit her and drenched her before the finding herself sprawled on the ground in the Sage's arms.

"Hey!" she yelled indignantly, shoving her Hyuuga stoicism to the side. "What was that for?!"

Uzumaki laughed at her as he looked up at her. He had somehow teleported himself to cushion her fall. "I never said I would _not_ attack. You can't just expect your enemy to let you hit them. Oh want to hear a joke?" he chortled, "I put out the fire on the firecracker. Haha."

She was not pleased. The joke was incredibly lame and she was not happy being wet. She sat up and raised her chakra-coated palm to strike him when she noted the rather compromising position that they were in. Also, with her clothes soaking wet, she was probably giving the Sage a good idea of what she was hiding under her robes.

The Sage apparently had just noticed the same thing and had turned away while she blushed.

He quickly but gently set her off of him and used a wind technique to dry the both of them off. Unfortunately, that had actually made the problem worse. Apparently, Uzumaki's jutsu for drying them off had a very short reach and they both had to endure being close together for about five minutes as they dried off.

Anyone who might have seen them at that moment would have assumed that they were lovers embracing each other.

There was an awkward silence.

A very long awkward silence.

"I…" he said, not meeting her gaze, "I think it's best if we don't meet for some time."

Still blushing, she nodded.

"Yes, Lord Uzumaki. I feel that would be for the best."

* * *

AN: In case you didn't catch it, Naruto's students are all from _Digimon Adventures 02_. Patamon & his Boom Bubble should have been the dead giveaway. It's simply too difficult to create OCs and develop their characters when I already have to make tremendous effort building up canon characters who have barely been given screen-time (e.g. Hanabi, Ranmaru, and many more later on). So I went with characters that most people should know for Naruto's students so that I wouldn't have to develop them as much. Also, I decided to use the Japanese names for his students (Hikari instead of Kari, Takeru instead of T.K., Daisuke instead of Davis, and Tailmon instead of Gatomon) to keep it in line with the whole Japanese theme of this story. Naruto's students are a minor part of the story so I don't really have too many plans for them. I personally think it would be hilarious if Patamon and Tailmon turned into Angemon and Angewoman in this story, but that might be too distracting. Let me know what you think.

I wrote Hinata's reaction to Sakura based on _Naruto _Chapter 450, page 5 when Sakura hugs Naruto and Hinata is just watching the scene with a smile. I personally found that it is incredibly difficult to write from Hinata's POV since she's _so_ sweet in canon. Unfortunately, I'm nowhere near that good of a person and as such, I refuse to believe that a person that sweet can exist.


	5. Introduction - Conspiracies

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. This is fanfiction, after all.

* * *

**Forests near Training Ground Twenty-Two, Konoha – March 4, AK 22**

Naruto hopped from tree to tree, not with his feet, but with his space-time ninjutsu, if it could be called that. In actuality, it was an application of a special power that Naruto was recently working with.

Naruto had hit the limits of chakra training. He found that his chakra levels stopped growing after a while and that he could not force any more power into his ninjutsu attacks. Initially, that had been fine; he simply decided to work on taijutsu. Eventually, he had hit a limit there. He then focused on genjutsu, weaponry, and even fuinjutsu. Again, each time, he hit a limit. Naruto supposed that most humans wouldn't hit those limits. But Naruto had the benefit of training five hundred times faster than anyone else. One year would be five hundred years. Two would be one thousand years. He had broken the limits of what was practically possible for humans and had hit the theoretical limits of human ability.

As a result, he had even decided to pick up on medical ninjutsu and dabbled in trying to master different styles of fighting to increase his versatility, rather than power, but at that point, it was diminishing returns.

If he wanted to become stronger, he would need to seek out a new power.

And he did. Eventually, he found what he was looking for. Instead of using chakra, he would use spiritual (yin) energy and physical (yang) energy, the two components of chakra. Unlike chakra, which had a form, neither spiritual energy nor physical energy had a form. Thus, there would be no limit to what the body could hold. The only constraints would be what his mind was able to come up with.

This teleportation technique was based on that theory. Naruto would rip a hole in space-time first with the imaginary powers of spiritual energy and then keep the hole open with the life-giving properties of physical energy. It had been extremely difficult to learn how to use spiritual and physical energies independently, but the rewards had been worth it. Naruto could feel himself growing stronger once again.

He called it the shadow step.

The only problem was that he had to have a yin-yang seal that opened up a hole in space-time at his destination. He had recently covered many different spots in Konoha with seals that forcibly separated chakra into spiritual energy and physical energy, but the seals took incredibly long to create. Seals generally operated with chakra so he would have to spend hours to create one of the complex seals. He preferred manually opening a hole in the distance, but that required visualization of the area he was teleporting to.

So he was practicing his technique while his own students were training with his shadow clone. He be damned if he let his training slow down because he had students. A good teacher had to set a good example for his or her students anyway.

Suddenly, he was filled with memories of his students. That was his cue to go.

He quickly leaped towards where his students were training, taking care not to reveal that he knew a teleportation technique.

"Well, it looks like all three of you are gaining the hang of it after a couple days," Naruto remarked as he arrived.

All three of his students were hanging upside down from different tree branches.

"Naruto-sensei! Look at me! I can hop from tree to tree like Tailmon now!" Hikari jumped from trunk to trunk of different trees.

Takeru was doing the same thing except he was chasing Patamon who was _definitely_ flying with those strange ears of his.

"Hah!" Daisuke shouted. The boy was standing upside down, clearly proud that he had succeeded at the task. "I'm awesome!"

Naruto rolled his eyes at their excitement. Kids these days got too excited over the smallest things. "Maybe, but you do know what the next step of the training is, right?"

Daisuke gulped at his tone and Naruto smiled evilly. "Umm…nope?"

Naruto formed three other shadow clones. All three of them sported the same evil grin as they each went through hand signs. "You have to be able to stay sideways or upside down while my clones fire at you."

"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!" they each shouted out.

Naruto's clones made sure to reduce the power to prevent them from getting hurt, but all three of them were now drenched and on the ground.

"Hey! No fair!" Hikari shouted. "You didn't say start!"

Naruto smiled at the sweet girl. The girl was sweet, happy, and bright, but was way too innocent. "Hikari, do you think your enemy is going to say start before they kill you?"

The girl froze and then shook her head seriously. "No, Sensei. I'm sorry that I complained."

Naruto nodded. "I'm glad you understand. You three have to be able to do this exercise without even thinking about it. Just be glad that I'm not throwing kunai and shuriken at you. There's a teacher named Anko who used to do that with her students."

The three of them shivered at that. "Okay, Naruto-sensei. We'll try our best." Takeru said.

Naruto took out a huge pile of snacks from a storage scroll. "Here, I bought some goodies for anyone who can dodge for at least ten minutes without falling to the ground. I don't even care if you get hit. Just make sure to stay above the ground. But," he motioned to Patamon and Tailmon, "they get to eat while you do this exercise. So if you take too long, you won't get any snacks."

The guinea pig and the cat started eagerly going through the gigantic pile of snacks. Over the last few days, Naruto had learned that the two were bottomless pits whenever they saw something they liked to eat. And sweets were definitely on that list.

"Aww, no fair!" Hikari whined but nodded as she walked up a tree. "Tailmon," she looked towards the small cat, "Please save some for me."

Naruto raised an eyebrow as the cat smiled at the girl and nodded. He initially figured that Tailmon understood Hikari from being with her for so long, but it appeared as if the cat was a bit more than just a simple cat. Naruto wondered if Tailmon would become to Hikari what Akamaru was to Kiba. It would certainly help Hikari's fighting abilities if she had a ninja cat watching her back all the time. Patamon was the same way as well and fully understood whatever each of them said.

"Just watch! I'll get this done in the first ten minutes." Daisuke shouted confidently. "Try your best, Naruto-sensei."

Naruto turned to look at the confident boy as he filed his thoughts about Tailmon and Patamon in the back of his mind. Naruto smirked and nodded at his clones. "Oh don't worry, Daisuke, I will."

Naruto started laughing as Daisuke immediately got knocked off his tree.

* * *

**Forests near Training Ground Twenty-Five, Konoha – March 4, AK 22**

It was her week off and Hanabi was currently training with Konohamaru, a fellow A-rank ninja. He was of also the heir of a noble clan and was the honorable grandson of the Third. He was a capable sparring partner.

It was often too hard to gain the necessary experience to move up higher in level the higher she got. There were fewer people she could train with and even fewer she could learn from. That was why her night with Uzumaki had been so helpful to her.

But she still needed a regular training partner around her level.

After being placed in a squad together for a mission three years ago, she and the older teen had often trained together. They were about even; she was much more skilled than he was at close-range and he was more versatile with options at close, middle, and long ranges. She had the benefit of the Byakugan while he had greater speed, strength, and endurance.

"Damn it, I hate it when I can't use my best technique on an opponent," Konohamaru said in a frustrated tone. "Can't you just stay still for once?"

"And get hit with the Rasengan?" she inquired in a somewhat amused tone. "Why would I do that?"

Hanabi sidestepped another shadow clone that had tried to thrust yet another Rasengan at her and using her momentum from the turn, swung her arm out in a Gentle Fist strike.

_Poof!_

"Ugh! I know," he said, "It's just frustrating. I'm best at close-range but you're so much better."

She smirked. "Well, I am a Hyuuga, after all. Our entire fighting style is built for defense against all ranges and extreme offense at close-range." She then added, "Try fighting exclusively from mid-range or further out. It'll help you expand your developing mid-range skills and I get to practice defending against them."

Konohamaru nodded before jumped back.

"Fire Release: Great Flame!"

"Kaiten!" Hanabi used her rotation to blow away the fireball. "Water Release: Burst Whip!"

She struck at where Konohamaru was hiding—she could see him with her Byakugan—but he quickly dodged.

"Wow! I didn't know you knew a new technique!"

"Don't tell anyone. I don't want my family to find out."

There was a risk that her family would find out, but she needed to practice it on an opponent and after what happened with Uzumaki, she no longer had a training partner. If she got caught, she would just pass off the technique as something she kept using to keep up her nature manipulation skills, which was a requirement for all jounin.

She flung the whip again and came close to ensnaring the boy. "Damn it, Hanabi. That thing looks painful! Big Brother Naruto would probably be cracking a joke about how I'm completely whipped by a girl."

She nearly tripped at that and groaned as a mental image of Uzumaki sporting a wide grin popped into her mind. Even when she wasn't seeing him, he found a way to drive her insane. For the last few days she barely could keep the Sage out of her mind. Her mind would simply replay the scene where he was holding her close to dry her off. And then, there was the incident where he easily swatted away her blow. She had gotten a glimpse of his incredible power then and it was difficult to forget.

Hanabi shook her head as she saw Konohamaru duck and swerve a few times before going even further back. He was now out of her extended range.

There was only one thing to do then.

"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"

Hanabi had to wince after she saw her technique fly towards the boy. It was fast, but given the distance, Konohamaru might as well have an infinite amount of time to prepare. The Gentle Fist _was _incredibly limited in the range and the few long-range techniques only wasted chakra. Uzumaki had been right.

Konohamaru didn't appear to be satisfied with standing outside of her range, however. He drew a chakra blade and immediately formed a fire blade that coated the metal blade. Hanabi reactivated her water whip as she dodged the fireballs that he launched by swing his blade as he rushed in into her range.

Not having any success ensnaring the older teen with only one water whip, she created another one and immediately grabbed his blade, expanded the water to cover his entire arm and pulled as she raced forward.

Konohamaru managed to free himself with a large burst of earth chakra from his trapped arm, absorbing the water, but Hanabi was already in range.

"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

She panted after her technique was done only to see Konohamaru disappear in a puff of smoke. She jumped up, knowing that Konohamaru had to be underground but found her legs suddenly trapped by mud and dirt that had risen from the ground and hardened.

Konohamaru placed his fire blade on her neck. "And that's checkmate."

"Good match," Hanabi sighed. They were about even in skill and her intelligence covered her relative lack of power, but she lost to him more often than not to the older boy because of his greater experience. Still, it was always somewhat of a disappointment whenever she lost.

"Yeah. But what was that ribbon thing?" Konohamaru asked.

"Well, you know as well as I do that I can't fight at a distance very well. I…" Hanabi did not let her mind go to Uzumaki again lest she blush brightly at the memory, "learned of a way where I could extend my reach and grab my opponents to bring the battle into my range. That way, I can set the tone instead of trying to match theirs."

"Yeah, I bet," he said. "The way you wave that thing makes it incredibly unpredictable. And since it looks like you're attacking with it, opponents are less likely to think that you're just using it to grab them and pull them in."

"It's still a work in progress. Ideally, it would be nice if I could channel my Gentle Fist attacks through the water, but I want to concentrate on grabbing first."

"Well, if that's a work in progress, I don't want to see the final product. That technique will end up being deadly," Konohamaru laughed before looking at his watch. "Well, it looks like I'm almost late for my lunch date, so I'll be heading back now."

Hanabi nodded as the boy disappeared in a body flicker.

She started to practice by herself again with her water whip when she heard a huge swoosh.

_SWOOSH! BOOM!_

Hanabi turned on her Byakugan and saw a huge vortex of water off in the distance. She wondered if it was several ANBU squads participating in war games. _That _would be worth watching.

She didn't have anything else to do so she headed off towards the vortex of water.

* * *

**Forests near Training Ground Twenty-Five, Konoha – March 4, AK 22**

"What were you saying again, Daisuke?" Naruto glared at one of his students. "Something about me being old and not being able to keep up with you young ones?"

Naruto realized that he probably didn't look like a responsible jounin-sensei with all the fallen tree trunks everywhere. But he didn't care. He would teach his way.

"Lord Uzumaki."

Naruto turned and saw Hanabi. He wasn't embarrassed, but what had happened several nights ago made the situation between them awkward.

He could tell that the girl was hesitant to approach him. Naruto mentally sighed. There was just no way getting around this. He'd have to do it the usual way. Head-on.

"Yo! What's up, little firecracker?"

The girl's face flushed. Naruto had to smile at that. The girl was proper and had a good handle on her emotions, but she wasn't nearly the stoic prick that her father was. The girl actually had a heart.

The girl finally decided to sigh and ignore his comment and the awkwardness. "It seems like we're always running into each other in the training grounds after you throw around incredibly destructive ninjutsu."

"Oh, that? That was just my Water Release: Hydro Vortex at a tenth of the original power," Naruto said casually.

"A tenth?" the girl blanched.

Naruto whistled innocently at that. Truthfully, it had been even weaker than that, but he wasn't going to tell that to anyone. It was best if people kept underestimating him, even if they did acknowledge him as a strong fighter. It was why he kept letting people think that he was still an idiot.

Naruto had to mentally scoff at that. Did people really think that anyone who could spam shadow clones and gain knowledge five hundred times faster than anyone else could be an idiot? _Arrogant fools…_

Naruto shook his head. It wasn't the time to get angry at the villagers.

"Well something like that," Naruto said with a grin, "My kids thought they were getting a little too smug about their success in avoiding my shadow clones squirting them with extremely slow streams of water."

"Naruto-sensei," Takeru groaned. "That was not just 'squirting' us. Those water attacks were strong enough to break large tree branches off of the trees."

"And they weren't extremely slow either, Sensei," Daisuke said. Naruto almost laughed when he saw that there were swirls in the boy's eyes. "Those jets of water were faster than kunai thrown at full strength."

"And then you fire off that monstrous water tornado or something. We could have been killed, Sensei," Hikari said. Tailmon merely meowed sadly next to the wet girl.

"Takeru, Hikari, that's why you have to learn to control what Daisuke says. When your teammate runs his mouth off, he might make an enemy upset and do what I just did. Generally, enemies hold back against you for a while as they try to gauge your strength. Unfortunately, if you anger them too much, they'll put everything they have in the next few attacks. It's a real-life lesson for you all."

The kids looked somber at that. Daisuke especially looked ashamed. Naruto figured the boy was probably feeling guilty for putting his "pretty Hikari" in danger.

"It looks like you're just making an excuse to drench your kids in water," Hanabi observed. Despite being annoyed at the girl for ruining his perfect excuse, Naruto was pleased that Hanabi had gotten over the awkwardness and stood next to him.

Naruto nodded happily. "Of course!" The kids groaned at that. "I take every opportunity to torture my cute little students."

"You're a meanie, Naruto-sensei," Hikari said while hugging Tailmon. "A really big, fat meanie."

"I may be a meanie, but you little brats are annoying," he returned in an even happier tone. It was much too fun to mess with children, even one as cute as Hikari. "So I consider us even." Naruto turned to Hanabi again. "So what are you doing here?"

"I was training when I saw your Hydro Vortex from a few training grounds away," Hanabi explained. "It was so powerful," the kids groaned again, "that I thought it was part of some kind of war games that ANBU might have been carrying out. I was curious so I dropped by."

"Even the pretty lady says that it was powerful, Sensei!" Daisuke shouted while waving a fist in the air. "You're being too harsh on us! We're still just kids!"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Whatever," Naruto then smirked, "But Daisuke, if you want to impress Hikari, you need to be a man," His smirk grew wider, "That means, you got to stop being such a little kid and you need to start facing my attacks head-on without complaining."

Naruto started chuckling when that shut the annoying little brat up. Daisuke had a good heart and even a good head on his shoulders, but he was way too focused on Hikari. For now that was okay and Naruto would allow it, but that habit needed to be broken fast. Such feelings became distractions on real missions.

"But what about us?" Takeru moaned as Patamon flew around him. "I want to be a kid for a little while longer." Takeru gave Naruto a pleading look. "Sensei, just be harsh on Daisuke!"

Naruto laughed before he pulled out another storage scroll and tossed it on the ground where it revealed a picnic towel with food on it. "Anyway, all three of you, eat. There aren't any snacks in this one, but I figured that you might be hungry after the training today. You'll have to deal with a sandwich or two for now, but I'll take you guys out to eat later. Consider it an apology for putting you through a mini-hurricane."

He ignored the cheers and walked a few paces away with Hanabi for some space and privacy. "Training?" he looked at Hanabi with a thoughtful expression. He wondered if she was practicing her newest addition to her style.

She nodded. "I tried to use my Burst Whip in battle against a training partner."

Naruto was surprised that she used it out in the open, but nodded. He figured that she needed a real training partner to use it on. He briefly wondered who her training partner was. From what he knew about the girl, her genin teammates had died on missions in the past and she didn't have too many close friends.

"And?"

"I still have issues with range, but I don't think that's ever going to change while I'm using the Gentle Fist style."

Naruto nodded again. "Ultimately, even long-range fighters have an extent to their range. Otherwise, long-range bombers could hit us here all the way from Iwa or Kumo. You just need to have a decent area where your techniques are effective. But I don't think that was your problem. Let me guess. You stood in one spot and tried to chase your partner with only your whip."

Naruto noticed the girl was slightly surprised at that. "Now that I think about it, I did."

"You're still used to fighting in the pure Gentle Fist style even if you've been making modifications to it over the last few years. I told you. The Gentle Fist is about making the least amount of movements to take out the enemy, so it's no surprise that you stood in one spot while following your enemy with your weapon. But you have to remember that even if they might not be physically fast as most close-combat fighters, most long-range fighters are extremely agile and are highly adept at dodging. You'll have to chase them down, not just stay in one place hoping that they'll get hit."

The girl looked thoughtful at that. "Thank you, Lord Uzumaki."

Naruto felt uncomfortable at the long silence that followed that. None of it really made any sense. It wasn't as if he liked her or she liked him. So why did the situation feel so strange?

"Hey, Naruto-sensei! Introduce us to your girlfriend!" Daisuke called out. "She's really pretty!" Naruto smirked at the outraged look on Hikari's face. "No, not as pretty as you, Hikari!"

Naruto laughed at that, but Hanabi looked ready to kill someone.

Naruto looked at her with a smile, inviting her to beat the kid down with a gesture. "I won't tell anyone if you won't tell."

* * *

**Secret Meeting Place, Kumo – March 5, AK 22**

Sakuma Hyuuga found himself in a small poorly lit room, talking to a large one-armed man. The room was much too cramped for a noble such as he, but he would suffer this humiliation for a while. Sacrifices did have to be made. After all, you had to break a few eggs to make an omelet.

Officially, he was in Kumo for a diplomatic mission, but his true purpose was to find support for his plan. His plan to take over the Hyuuga clan.

"We have no reason to trust your word. For all we know, this could be a trap designed by Konoha. In terms of _numbers_, Konoha is currently the strongest of great villages. How do we know that this is not some ploy to start a war?"

"Lord Raikage, I assure you that Konoha has nothing to do with this. As far a war, you yourself are rather famous for calling us peace-loving tree-huggers. Why would that change all of a sudden?"

"Copy Ninja Kakashi is nowhere near the pacifist that Sarutobi and Senju were and he is ten times the strategist they were. I would not put it past him to fabricate a scenario where he had to go to war. After all, his father was disgraced because of a mission gone wrong against Kumo."

Sakuma was getting annoyed at the inane arguments. "Lord Raikage," Sakuma tried to keep the sarcastic tone out of his voice, "I am sending you documents detailing the layout of my clan's entire compound. If this were a trap, it would be an incredibly stupid one as we are handing you sensitive information about Konoha's strongest clan." Sakuma paused before deciding to throw a veiled insult. "Surely, you have your own intelligence on Konoha and can confirm the truth of my words."

The Raikage didn't seem convinced. "Then, what of the Hyuuga clan? Why should we listen to the words of a Main House Hyuuga who fear the secrets of their Byakugan being discovered? There is no guarantee your documents represent reality."

Sakuma patiently listened to the barbarian ramble in an attempt to be intelligence. It was all a farce. Both of them knew that he spoke the truth and that the Raikage would accept his proposal.

"You know as well as I do that I seek to become the ruler of the Hyuuga clan by becoming either the clan head or the Grand Elder. That should be proof enough. You will never get anything more certain than that in this wretched world of ours."

The Raikage just muttered some profanities before nodding. "Very well then. Kumo shall hear what you have to say."

"We have a window of about a month to carry an attack out," Sakuma explained. "Hanabi Hyuuga will become of age in about three and half weeks. On that day, there will be a challenge match between her and the first princess Hinata. The winner of the match will immediately become appointed as the Crown Princess, which removes the possibility of a smooth take-over on my part. While my wish is to remove both heiresses permanently, it is too much of a difficult task to fully carry out. Instead, I want to use an indirect method."

"Such as?" grunted the man.

If the large oaf weren't a kage, Sakuma would have ended his miserable life right there. Ē didn't have a single bone of dignity in his body. Sakuma felt sick just being next to the despicable oaf. Sakuma cursed fate for forcing him to take power in such an undignified manner.

_He_ should have been the one to be the clan head, not that damned fool Hiashi who had been weaker than his own Branch House brother. If Sakuma had been the clan head, then the Fourth Shinobi World War wouldn't have taken its toll on the Hyuuga clan. Instead of volunteering to send his own clansmen out to the frontlines, he would have held them back in reserve. The rest of Konoha had a duty to protect the nobles not the other way around. Hiashi's sense of duty to a village they owed nothing to was disgusting and unbecoming of a Hyuuga. Hiashi needed to be replaced by someone who would lead the Hyuuga to greatness, not run it into the ground.

"Ultimately, I just need to have the potential heirs out of the way. The first princess has a certain…fetish for undignified brutes," Sakuma spat out, "She is in love with a certain Naruto Uzumaki."

"Uzumaki!" Ē pounded the desk and destroyed it. "I'm going to kill that idealistic brat one day. He talked of peace and prosperity for all. Yet ever since the last war, Kumo has been losing business to Konoha. This cannot stand!"

Sakuma mentally scoffed as he sidestepped the wooden pieces from the desk flying his way. How did such a narrow-minded fool ever become the Raikage? Sakuma had just mentioned of a name and the Raikage went out of control. Ē simply had no control over his emotions, just like that Uzumaki brat.

"I understand your anger and I can sympathize," Sakuma said silkily. "Uzumaki has an unusual influence in our village and his idealism has infected much of the populace. It is rather difficult to enact order when people are shouting about morals."

"Hmph. Well, what is your proposal and what does it have to do with Uzumaki?"

As a kage, you have considerable influence, even in other nations," Sakuma began carefully. It tore at his pride that he needed the help of an idiot like the Raikage, but it couldn't be helped. It would be yet another sacrifice that he had to make to rule the Hyuuga clan. "I request that you use that influence to try and force Uzumaki into an arranged marriage. Konoha has always been averse to conflict and will not be able to refuse."

"It certainly does help us but how does getting Uzumaki out of your village help you?" Ē asked suspiciously.

"Konoha will refuse to marry someone as…" Sakuma paused. It would be painful to compliment the boy, "…powerful as the boy away to someone in another country. Instead, they will force him to marry someone within Konoha to justify a refusal of a marriage alliance."

"I see," the Raikage muttered. "You would have your older Hyuuga princess marry Uzumaki. That would leave only one heiress for you to get rid of, which is where your plan would come in."

Sakuma was impressed. Given how the conversation had gone on so far, he didn't think the Raikage had the intelligence to put that together. "Uzumaki's personality is such that he would not want to be married to someone he does not know. He is…" another pause, "…idealistic as you say and believes in the power of love. My sources tell me that while any young woman in Konoha would love to be matched with Uzumaki, Uzumaki himself is only close to a handful of other girls in his generation. He had been involved with Sakura Haruno, but she is now dead. He also knows the Yamanaka heir and the Kurama heir, but coincidentally, neither of them have any interest in him. It is very likely that our first princess will be the one matched with him."

"What about contingency plans? Kumo does not operate on what is likely. We operate on truth. There is no guarantee that your heiress will be married to him. And if things don't go your way, you would have to withdraw from this operation and we would have just used our political capital in other countries for no reason."

"If Uzumaki choose another girl, I shall either bribe the family to withdraw their daughter as a potential marriage candidate or arrange for an accident to happen. Money goes quite a long way, Lord Raikage."

"Why this roundabout way? Wouldn't it have been easier to wait till one of the heirs becomes the clan head and then assassinate her? With the second heir sealed, that would leave the seat of the clan head open for the taking."

"Foreign powers have already attempted to steal the Byakugan before," Sakuma was careful not to mention that it was _Kumo_ that had tried to do so, "so it would keep suspicion off of me if one of the princesses were kidnapped."

"I see," Ē grunted out again. "Killing an heiress would only invite unwanted suspicion and an investigation. If you can blame it on us, then there would be no investigation along your end. You want to do this before one of the princess becomes the Crown Princess or clan head so that security is somewhat lighter."

"Indeed. If Hinata is sent off in marriage, there will be a time frame where the Hyuuga will pay attention to the marriage and not on our own internal matters. The coronation of the Crown Princess will be set back, giving us more time to prepare and less security to deal with. On the other hand, if the challenge match took place, the coronation would happen immediately."

The Raikage nodded. "Very well, you have our cooperation. We shall sway the public opinion of several countries to push for arranged marriages with Uzumaki. The Land of Spring, the Land of Birds, and the Demon Country all have female rulers. I will notify my contacts in all three countries. As agreed, you will supply the means for us to kidnap the second princess. I believe you said her name is Hanabi Hyuuga, correct?"

Sakuma nodded. "Yes, I will provide an opening for whatever squad you might send as long as they cannot be traced back to me."

The Raikage stood up and left the small room. As Sakuma transformed to a man with green eyes and dark skin, as was typical of those living in Kumo, he smiled.

He was the smartest and the most powerful of the Hyuuga. It was only his misfortune that he was not born into the royal family of the Hyuuga.

He would take by force what is his destiny. In his opinion, both of the princesses were weak because of a genetic flaw. A Byakugan from such weak girls couldn't compare with the Byakugan of the true Hyuuga. The Raikage could celebrate all he wanted, but he would only be getting a defective Byakugan. The Hyuuga clan had no need of such trash anyway.

Sakuma laughed.

In a month, he would be the new ruler of the Hyuuga clan. The new Hyuuga clan would be feared across the entire continent.

* * *

**Secret Hospital Room, Konoha – March 5, AK 22**

Ino pulled her back from Sakura's head and turned to face the other three in the room.

She shook her head to give them her answer.

"There's been no change in her status from a psychological point of view. Luckily, she still appears to be dreaming."

Ino couldn't keep the slight anger out of her tone. When she said "luckily," it had sounded slightly sarcastic. Even after two months her best friend was still incapacitated and showed no sign of waking up. What was worse was that they had no leads on who the culprit was.

"Medically, her muscles are showing some signs of atrophy. It's nothing serious, but even with the nutrients we are giving her through her IV, her muscles are beginning to breakdown from lack of use," Shizune added. "In fact, I'm surprised they lasted almost eight weeks without any atrophy."

"We still have no leads on who did this. I've sent squads of ANBU to Naruto's neighborhood to investigate and there's still nothing."

"Can't you keep checking?" Ino demanded. Her best friend was hurt and the attacker was still at large. She would not give up.

"At this point, we might have to just close the investigation for now," Shikamaru murmured softly. "This is getting us nowhere."

Ino was about to snap at him when the Hokage raised his hand to stop her.

"Ino, I know it's difficult to accept, but we need those ANBU out on the field. Naruto's already been running the gauntlet for the last few years, and he's showing signs of mental fatigue. I can't continue asking him to solo most of the consecutive S-rank missions that he gets. I've sent him on thirty-eight in the last two years alone and he usually gets less than a day in between them as a break."

"_Thirty-eight? Solo?_" Ino repeated incredulously. She had barely done _two_ in the last _six_ years. Many people didn't survive past _three_. And that was in squads. "That's one and half S-rank mission per month! Some S-rank missions take half a year!"

"That's why we had to send Naruto. He's incredibly fast at getting missions done. We really did not have a choice," the Hokage explained. "On a given year, we get close to twenty-five S-rank requests. After the war, we were down to fewer than four thousand ninjas including those on reserve. We couldn't afford to send out full squads on such missions with incredibly high mortality rates nor could we have people out on the field for that long on _one_ mission. We would have been weakening ourselves further."

Ino was still flabbergasted at the number. One of her own S-rank missions had been to the Land of the Woods to eliminate the remnants of the vicious Prajna Group that had sworn vengeance on Konoha for an unknown reason. There were rumors that an ANBU division had independently attempted to wipe them out many years ago, but they were unconfirmed. That battle had been the second scariest in her life, after the battle with the juubi during the war. It had been the four Konoha ninjas against twenty-eight Prajna ninjas and she had been the only one to make it out alive. Naruto was doing those kinds of missions _solo_.

And _thirty-eight _of those consecutively without rest in the last two years.

Ino turned to look at Sakura. She was torn from wanting justice for her best friend and wanting to help her best friend's boyfriend who was also her childhood friend. Why did those two things have to be mutually exclusive? Didn't they have anywhere else they could cut back on?

"Ino, we've been really short-handed since the end of the last war," Shikamaru repeated the Sixth's words as she nodded. After all, her father had died in the war. She knew that there had been losses. "But the mission requests kept coming though and we did not have the capacity to accept all the requests without making some sacrifices."

"And you're saying that Naruto is just a _sacrifice_?" Ino hissed. Naruto wasn't one of her closest friends, but she knew how much of a difficult life he has had. Now he was being asked to do even more for the village. "Is that all you view him as?" she demanded. "I'm a psychologist and I know that even one of those kinds of mission can mentally scar even the hardiest of people. You're going to kill him at this rate! If not on the field, then indirectly because he'll take his own life to end the misery! I'm going to do a mental check-up on him the first chance I get!"

The Sixth shook his head. "The Kyuubi's chakra also buffers against mental fatigue so we can push him a little harder than most."

"A _little_?" Ino felt like screaming. "I still get nightmares from my own S-rank mission. You're having him do that day and night! Kyuubi chakra or not, that's going to take a toil on a human. Her eyes narrowed dangerously, "Of course…unless you're calling him a _demon_."

She got some vindictive pleasure when the gray-haired Hokage jerked back as if he had been slapped in the face.

"Ino," Shikamaru said in a low tone. "You're being unreasonable here. That comment was uncalled for."

The Hokage recovered as she gave a scathing glare at the shadow user. She was only looking out for her friends. There was nothing unreasonable about that.

Lord Kakashi sighed. "With Naruto taking the bulk of the worst missions, we were able to keep everyone else alive and training. Now we're almost back to where we were before the war. It's not a great place to be; even those numbers were nothing like the numbers we had before Suna and Oto invaded. Even so, I understand that Naruto is carrying an immense load. I'm trying to give him a break by having him become a jounin-sensei. That's why it's imperative that we end this investigation quickly. We need those ANBU back out on the field."

"Tch." Ino crossed her arms, still not convinced. "I don't understand why all those missions are necessary to begin with. Sabotage, espionage, assassinations. Why do we do those things at all and still claim that we desire peace? No matter how you look at this, we're doing the same things that the other countries are by looking out for only our best interests."

"Ino," Shikamaru groaned. Ino threw him a look. They had had these discussions often and Shikamaru always had brushed her off as troublesome. "We're in front of the Hokage, okay? Just give it a rest. A lot of these missions aren't just for money or to expand our power. Most of Konoha's S-rank missions, as far as the ones that I know of, are counterespionage and protection from assassinations. The assassination orders that do go out are to kill people deemed incredibly dangerous to Konoha. These things need to be done." Ino stepped back when her teammates eyes grew cold, "Or I suppose you rather have the Fire Daimyo killed every other week?"

She sighed. She knew all that they did was necessary, but that didn't mean she had to like it. The last war was supposed to be the war to end all wars and yet, just one year after the war ended, the Grand Ninja Alliance fell apart and the villages were at each other's throats again. Ino suspected that even though most of the shinobi were tired of fighting, the royals and the nobles in the capitals of the countries were still too ambitious and greedy to actually want peace.

"But why _Naruto_?" she argued. "You're closer to him than I am! You should know just how much he's done for the village. By the end of his career, he'll be nothing but a shell of a human being."

"Ino," Lord Kakashi interrupted, "I'm his sensei. How do you think I feel about doing this to him? Do you think I like torturing him? But," he went on, "being his sensei, I _know_ Naruto can take the punishment and come out stronger for it. And he has. I had and have faith in him. I suggest you have a little more faith in Naruto as well. He's the man who saved us all."

"B…but…" Ino stammered. That was true. It had slipped her mind that Lord Kakashi was probably hurting the most.

"And did you forget that Sakura is another of my precious students as well and the person that my student and future successor loves the most?" he asked in a strained voice. "I take no pleasure in doing this. None! But these things are necessary for the village."

Ino wanted to argue so she looked at Shizune, the one person who might be sympathetic to her cause. Ino found the older woman shaking her head. It appeared that Shizune wasn't too happy either but had either given up arguing or agreed with the Hokage's assessment. Ino sighed. She was glad that she wasn't the Hokage. These types of decisions were way too complicated for her.

"Ino," Shikamaru said in a kind voice. "It's not like Sakura's going to die any time soon. We've already started to uncover parts of the seal. Ibiki's going over those seals with the leading sealing elites and experts in our village every single day to try to break Sakura out of this. We can worry about finding the culprit then. Sakura will understand the sacrifice we have to make to keep her boyfriend…" he shifted around to find the right word, "…sane as you put it."

Ino gave up and just nodded. She looked back at her pink-haired friend. She was just another casualty of the world they lived in. Just how many people had to be sacrificed until the hate and the blood-thirst of the world would be satisfied?

* * *

AN: _Naruto _Chapter 631 pretty much confirms what I thought to be true the entire time. Naruto _still_ likes Sakura. I get the whole let's-root-for-Hinata-because-she's-a-sweet-girl mentality, but come on, that's not going to change how Naruto feels about Sakura. Have you suddenly shifted your affections onto a person solely because you found out that that person loves you? That would be incredibly shallow. And besides, Naruto suddenly falling in love with Hinata doesn't make any sense given Naruto's nindo of never giving up. It would have to take something colossal for Naruto to stop loving Sakura.


	6. Introduction - Territory of the Masters

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. This is fanfiction, after all.

* * *

**Forests near the border of Land of Hot Water, Land of Rice Fields, and the Land of Fire – March 14, AK 22**

"Finally! Mission accomplished!"

Hanabi stared stoically at her brown-haired subordinate who had a wide grin on his face. "Say that after we're safely clear of the Land of Hot Water and back to Konoha. Make sure to keep your guard up on the way back."

Taichi Io crossed his arms. "Aw. Don't be like that, Captain. We just spent a week on edge because we were guarding a daimyo during negotiations for the price of rice wine. We all know that nothing ever happens on these kinds of missions. It's just that the nobles are paranoid and self-satisfied pricks that they pay for an A-ranked mission."

"That may be the case, Io, but never let your guard down," she returned in a soft voice.

There were so many situations in the past where letting her guard had cost her. Her own teammates had died because of an ambush. If she had had the sense and the awareness to activate her Byakugan earlier, then they might not have died. People said that she was too harsh on herself, but Hanabi knew it had been her job to prepare her teammates for any possible attack. It wasn't feasible to keep her bloodline on _all_ the time, but she should have had activated it at random intervals and done regular checks whenever possible.

"The kid does have a point, you know." Hanabi turned to the other female member of her squad. It was Tenten, her late cousin's old genin teammate. "I could definitely use the extra pay so I'm not complaining, but this mission was a total bore."

"I agree. There was not enough youthfulness on this mission! I must make up the lost time with extra training! I will try to lift up this rock with one my nose! If I can't to that, then I'll—"

Hanabi tuned out the vigorous statements of "youth" from the final member of the squad. She never understood how Neji dealt with Lee back when the two were genin teammates. She was fairly familiar with him and Tenten since they often visited Neji when he had been alive and because she worked with them on quite a few missions, but she still couldn't help feeling irritated by Lee's antics.

Still, she wouldn't admit it, and least of all to Io, but there was something off about this mission. Hanabi had learned in her classes that before the Fourth War, scrupulous nobles regularly hired A-ranks for protection in addition to having their own samurai guards, each of which could stand against a chuunin or even a jounin. But even then, only _one_ A-rank would be requested and those were more dangerous times. There definitely was no need for _two_ A-rank ninjas on this mission even if one of those two was officially classified only as a special jounin. Perhaps there was a shady deal going on that required more protection.

_(AN: Genin are D-rank by default, chuunin are C-rank, jounin are B-rank by default, with special jounin being somewhere in between B and C. Elite jounin are A-ranks. There are no more than a couple dozen A-ranks at most in each village. As for S-ranks, there are only a couple dozen of these across the entire Elemental Nations._

_Note that there are exceptions. Naruto was classified as S-rank as a genin after the war and Lee is currently an A-rank as a special jounin. But Tenten is the typical B-rank, as are most members of the original Rookie 9.)_

"Ah well, I suppose Captain Hyuuga does get paid to be paranoid." Io rolled his eyes while speaking in a mocking tone. "She's the captain for a reason."

Hanabi felt tempted to snap at the boy. As a Hyuuga who was trained to read others, she knew that older teen had something of a crush on her. Hanabi initially didn't want to comment on it because it wouldn't be proper on a mission, but she was reaching breaking point. His little crush on her was flattering, but she could do without the attention and the little jabs here and there.

"Do you really have to bring that up every minute or something?" Tenten grumbled. "We get it. You're feeling emasculated because you're taking orders from a girl."

"It's not that!" Io protested. Hanabi would have rolled her eyes at the chuunin's protests and his attempts to explain himself.

Tenten had something of an inferiority complex so she would often automatically jump to the conclusion that the world was considering her and other kunoichi weak. That mindset prevented Tenten from seeing the true reason why Io kept pestering Hanabi.

It worked well in this case. Hanabi did not want to spend the next few days being teased by her older teammates. Lee especially would shout something about the "springtime of youth" and how "love was youthful."

Speaking of which, Hanabi turned to her other teammate. She felt herself about to twitch in annoyance when she saw that he was trying to climb a tree with two fingers. Lee would never change.

"Then what is it?" Tenten demanded.

"I'm just trying to get a reaction out of her!" Io quickly explained. "It's just that the elites have some kind of…" he too turned to look at the spandex wearing ninja, who was now trying to use his forehead to knock down a tree, "um…strange quirk. Lee-sempai can't speak ten words without saying something about 'youth' and Captain Hanabi is like the Ice Princess or something. She won't even call me by my first name even after two weeks! I'm trying to figure out how to advance in my career, you know, so I'm paying attention to how my superiors are."

He was lying, of course, but Hanabi allowed him to save face in front of Tenten. More importantly, his comment made her pause for a moment. Io did have a point; Hanabi herself felt the same way about Uzumaki. He had some interesting quirks himself.

She shook her head. Even after nearly two weeks, she couldn't get her mind off the Toad Sage. The feeling of his powerful aura when blocked her Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm was fresh in her mind and the embarrassing situation during their training accident did not help her to forget about him in the least.

There was also the fact that he was intriguing. The Main House generally did not like the Toad Sage. They grudgingly accepted that he was physically strong and had the respect of most of the village, but they claimed that he was too idealistic and too disrespectful. The Hyuuga clan respected order and hierarchy, which was everything Uzumaki stood against. Uzumaki was too kind to others and showed too much empathy and softness towards others.

Yet, in her meetings with him, the Toad Sage challenged her original perceptions of power. He was brash, but he was charismatic. He wasn't stoic, but he still felt deadly. It was hard to get a complete read on the man. For someone who was supposed to wear his emotions on his sleeves, Uzumaki was quite the mystery.

_Crackle!_

Hanabi instantly tensed and got ready for battle, noting with satisfaction that both Lee and Tenten heard the noise also. She had done a check in the area ten minutes before so it couldn't possibly be an enemy. But the noise was too loud and deliberate to be some wild animal. There was no ominous chakra being emitted, but a chakra signal could be always be hidden through special armors. Hanabi quickly activated her Byakugan to check once more. It may very well be an incredibly fast enemy.

_Byakugan!_ She intoned mentally.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Io asked, noting the shift in attitude around them.

Hanabi's eyes widened as she tried to push Io out of the way. "Watch ou—!"

Before any of them could react further, a huge man jumped in front of the brown haired teen and hit him with a powerful punch. Her Byakugan told her that Io's entire chest was crushed and that fragments of his ribs were puncturing almost every organ. Io was dead before he even hit the tree.

Hanabi ducked under his second swing and let the huge fist pass over her.

She and her remaining teammates jumped back and stood in a triangular formation.

"Weak!" the man shouted. "Ninjas from the great villages are weak!"

Hanabi frowned at what her Byakugan was telling her and ignored the fact that one of her teammates had just died. Hanabi felt a pang of guilt, but she would worry about that later, especially since this man appeared to be incredibly fast, just about as fast as she was. There was nothing she could have done. If anything, she had just barely dodged the second blow herself.

The man was covered in strange flame-shaped markings and had a circular seal with the yin-yang-like symbol on his forehead. The strange part was that the two swirls of the yin-yang circle were separated, making them look like two different commas going in opposite directions rather than a full yin-yang circle.

Furthermore, Hanabi couldn't see any chakra. She could see inside of him just fine, but she couldn't see any chakra flowing through the body. Even a dead body would have a foreign source of chakra to power it. The only thing this person had was an extremely thin layer of chakra surrounding his entire body. It was so thin that she could barely see it.

_It must be fuinjutsu preventing my eyes from seeing any chakra inside of his body. But only the Hyuuga could come up with a seal that blocks our own eyes._

And what she saw confirmed that it wasn't a Hyuuga seal. Why would someone create a seal that only blocks visualization of chakra flow? It appeared almost as if the person who designed those seals forgot that the Hyuuga can attack more than just the chakra points.

Still, she would proceed cautiously. She wasn't ready to die just yet. She still had lots of things in life she wanted to do. She wanted to explore the countryside, take a trip across the ocean, and of course, find a person to love. None of those things were really possible while she was the Hyuuga princess, but she always hoped that she would one day be free. There was no way she would let her life end because of a careless mistake in some random forest.

"Lee, take point. Tenten, provide ranged support. I'll jump in if there is an opening."

"Alright, sounds like a plan," Tenten agreed as she took out several large scrolls. "Let's kick this guy's butt for what he did to Taichi."

"Yosh!" Lee shouted out, half in anger about the death of their teammate and half in excitement for the battle.

Hanabi and Lee ran towards the burly man as Tenten provided ranged support to prevent the man from maneuvering to the sides and outflanking them. Strangely enough, the man did nothing but snarl. He drew his arm back just as Lee started to attack.

She frowned; she couldn't any chakra being used or expelled as the man took his swing. That ruled out ninjutsu. Nonetheless, the swing was powerful enough to make Lee to wince in pain even with his guard up. That made no sense. It was almost impossible for anyone to have strength to hit Lee head-on and come out on top without the use of any ninjutsu.

Hanabi observed as Lee ducked under the next kick, clearly electing to dodge rather than block. The man's fighting technique was rather poor and easy to read, but there was some trick to it that she couldn't figure out.

Seeing an opening, she quickly flashed forward with a palm strike. Even if she couldn't see the chakra points, she could still see his organs and damage those.

To her shock, however, the chakra in her hands dissipated as soon as she got close.

"What the?"

"Hanabi, get out of the way!"

Focusing on the situation at hand, she jumped over the downward punch as Lee kicked the man in the back of the head, knocking him forward.

Close-range battle was dangerous. She needed to get more information before she jumped in. Her mind flashing back to Uzumaki, she quickly flew her hands through signs. "Water Release: Burst Whip."

"You little pests! Die!" roared the burly man as Lee tried an uppercut.

"Lee! Back!" she shouted as she jumped back to where Tenten was. Using her water whip, she tried to grab onto the man only to find the water falling out of her control before disappearing altogether when it got near him.

Lee had noticed it as well and swerved midway through a kick.

"Tch," she heard Tenten mutter from next to her. Just as her water technique disappeared, Tenten had launched a spiked cannonball with an explosive tag on it.

_Boom!_

"Tenten, that's not going to work," Hanabi said, seeing through the explosion.

"What the hell is he?" Tenten muttered as the smoke cleared. The man was hurt, but only because from the broken pieces of the ball that had been blasted towards him from the explosion. The explosion itself didn't hurt him.

"You saw it, didn't you, Lee?" Hanabi asked.

"Yes. Just as I hit him, I felt the part of my foot that kicked him lose its youth. I also had confirmation when I saw that your water technique dissipated as it got close to him. Those markings look somewhat familiar. I believe that it is the source of his power."

If the situation were not so dire, Hanabi might have rolled her eyes as his comment about youth. Even during a battle, he spoke in that ridiculous way of his. But Lee was correct; the man had some ability to reduce their fighting strength. Furthermore, he was somewhat difficult to see with her Byakugan because he had no chakra flow. She had grown accustomed to differentiating the different chakra signals when she had her bloodline activated, but all she saw was a black spot with gray organs. It was probably why the man had been able to sneak up on them. It was likely that she assumed that he was something dead or inanimate when she did a quick sweep of the area with her eyes earlier.

"PATHETIC! How did the great villages control the world for so long with such meager strength?!" he shouted.

While the man was ranting and pounding his chest like a wild gorilla, the man was dangerous and Hanabi made sure to keep her eyes on his as she talked with her teammates.

"You mean that he has some kind of power that weakens us?" Tenten asked.

"It's hard to say," Hanabi answered. "This is merely a hypothesis at this point, but I think his body repels and disperses all forms of chakra. I noticed that the chakra in my hand disappeared the moment it came in contact with him. The same was true for my water technique. We all use chakra as the basis for all our techniques, so our attacks become ineffective the moment we touch him. Chakra-based techniques are completely ineffective. I think it has to do with some of the seals he has on his body."

"That would explain why the explosive tag didn't work because the explosion itself is chakra-based. But Lee only uses taijutsu," Tenten frowned. "That doesn't require chakra."

Hanabi shook her head as they dodged the charging man. "No. All living things have chakra. So even the most basic movements require some chakra. It is the reason why the people cannot even stand when even only as few as sixty-four of their 361 chakra points are hit. Lee is only unable to mold and shape that chakra; he still uses it to enhance his muscles."

"Then how is _he_ using so much power without chakra?" Tenten demanded. "If his seals are what is making him immune to chakra, then they should work both ways. Seals that distinguish the user from the surroundings are incredibly complex and difficult to make."

"It's not just chakra nullification," Lee said as he flipped over the man and landed another kick on him that lost most of its power. "I remember now where I saw these seals or at least the ones with those flame patterns that are all over his body. The legendary Sannin Orochimaru used to place these on his men as an unyouthful way to boost their power. He might be using the flame-shaped seals as a power boost while the other strange circular seal that has the yin-yang-like symbol on it might be preventing attacks from affecting him."

"You call that a kick?!" roared the crazed man. "That felt like a love-tap!"

Hanabi frantically tried to figure out what to do. There was no point in arguing over what gave the man his strange powers. None of that changed the fact that they were fighting an opponent who had a massive boost in power, while their own techniques were completely ineffective.

Lee voiced her thoughts. "What do you suppose we do? Both your Gentle Fist and my Strong Fist are ineffective against him," Lee grunted out. Their opponent had clearly decided that Lee needed to be the next one to die. Hanabi briefly wondered if the man was attracted to green akin to how bulls were attracted to red.

"DIE! DIE! DIE!" the man roared, charging straight into another tree and destroying it.

"Fortunately, as long as we maintain our distance, we won't die. He's fast, but he doesn't seem to be agile as we are. Keep jumping around and making sharp turns. Just make sure to not get touched. If he grabs a hold of us though, we'll be helpless."

"That doesn't solve our problem. I doubt he'll just let just let us keep dodging and we don't know whether or not we'll end up tiring before he does. We need to fight him here while we have our full strength."

Hanabi went through all the available information. Pure taijutsu was ineffective. That took Lee out. Ninjutsu, taijutsu, or chakra-based taijutsu were out. That ruled her out. Tenten's fighting style revolved heavily around the use of explosive tags and those were only minimally effective. Hanabi supposed they could try to draw him into the center of a trap and knock all the trees down at once with the tags, but that was probably too difficult given that their enemy just kept smashing any tree in his way. Fuinjutsu, Tenten's secondary specialty, was no good either.

She looked at Tenten who threw a dozen projectiles to give Lee the space to dodge. Projectiles themselves were too weak and were too easily dodged.

_Wait!_

"Tenten, what's the deadliest longest ranged weapon you have while still maintaining a high degree of speed, accuracy, and agility?"

Tenten's eyes widened in realization and thought for a second. "I suppose a sword, staff, or spear. I have a more weapons that provide range, but they're all too easy to dodge and would leave me completely open to a counterattack. Those tools are only good for one hit."

"I was hoping for something longer, but it'll have to be a sword then," Hanabi remarked as she caught a katana from the other girl. She wasn't an expert, much less an elite, with weapons, but she could still hold her own for some time.

"I wasn't aware that you knew how to fight with weapons. From what Neji used to tell me, the Hyuuga clan never allowed any of their members to use anything other than the Gentle Fist. I was already shocked that you just used water ninjutsu."

Hanabi nodded. "You're correct, but I still had to go through the basic jounin training. You will have to take point though. I can only fight a delaying action with a sword. Let's go relay the message to Lee so he can start using his nunchucku. And make sure not to channel chakra into your blade."

She thanked whatever deity out there for giving her the foresight to practice with other styles of fighting. It probably was going to end up being the thing that saved her life that day.

"Roger."

* * *

**Oto, Land of Rice Fields - March 14, AK22**

"Kabuto."

Kabuto almost jumped when he heard the voice, but gave no indication that he had been startled. He was feared shinobi for a reason, after all. He couldn't let people know that _he_ felt fear himself.

"Ah, it's you again. Taiyou no Kuroi Kokuten. You know it's rude not to knock." Kabuto said in a pleasant tone.

"Spare me the pleasantries, Kabuto," came the curt response. Kabuto frowned. As always, the man was cloaked, hooded, and masked so it was hard to tell who it was. The voice sounded slightly garbled, no doubt with a voice modifier. And the man spoke in an irritating archaic manner. "I'm here to deliver the next batch."

The man pulled out a box containing many small sheets of paper.

Kabuto nodded as he examined the seals. "The design inside the yin-yang components looks slightly different from the last batch. What changed?"

Kokuten was silent for a moment, no doubt thinking how to phrase his response. If there was one thing certain about this man, it was that he was quite deliberate, even with his words.

"While the Dispersion Seal protects the user from any chakra-based damage, the converse is true as well. Since chakra is disrupted the moment it crosses the seal, which is placed on the skin, the user is also unable to use anything other than taijutsu. I am looking for a way to circumvent this flaw."

"Considering that most ninjas rely heavily on ninjutsu, the seals are quite effective as is," Kabuto casually remarked. "Even taijutsu relies on subconscious enhancement of muscles with chakra. I wouldn't go as far to say that your seals have a flaw. You were already able to increase the nullification range to one centimeter away from the user while still allowing the user to use chakra within his or her body. It's quite the accomplishment."

"The payment?"

"You still didn't answer my question," Kabuto said with a small frown. Kabuto had no doubt that the person in front of him was quite strong, but he had a couple of trump cards of his own. One of which included having found a way to reuse the previous sets of seals that he received. With a few more sets of these seals, he would no longer need the cloaked man. "It would be nice to know what these seals do before I let my men use them."

"The new effects are in the testing phase. I cannot say with any certainty as to what they will do. The only thing I can say with certainty is that they will not die."

"Ah, but tell me what they're designed for," Kabuto returned. "I'm not quite a fuinjutsu master, but I am an academic and can appreciate a nice long conversation of chakra theory." Kabuto decided to throw in a veiled threat. "I've studied the Sharingan and the bodies of different members of the Uchiha for years and know quite a lot of forcibly molding chakra."

Kabuto prepared himself for an attack. Kabuto suspected that his last statement meant something to the cloaked man.

"Do not waste my time," Kokuten replied, not giving any indication that he cared, "much less try to figure out who I am."

"I did no such thing," Kabuto said silkily, even though he was lying. The other man was quite skilled in hiding his emotions and even better at reading them. Kokuten was dangerous.

The man's tone became serious. "I require the payment now. I should remind you that I have no true need for you. I can always find other buyers for my seals. You, on the other hand, need these seals to keep your operations going. Your Sound forces are outmatched in both quality and quantity. These seals are the only things keeping you going. Not even your pathetic research has provided you with a way to keep up with the great villages."

Kabuto resisted the desire to grit his teeth in anger. Kabuto was normally mild-mannered, but Kokuten always took the opportunity to insult his work and his efforts. Kabuto didn't care about strength, but he did care about his research. Strength was only a means to an end. Strength allowed him to gain better subjects and more funding for his research. Research that was invaluable to the world and help in the evolution of mankind.

Kabuto took a few deep breaths to calm down and gave his best smile. Kabuto wouldn't let his opponent know that he was irritated. Emotions were like cards in a game of poker. They had to be play carefully and at the right time.

"How about a business transaction then? As you mentioned, I am outmatched in numbers. So I can't simply use unknown seals on my men. While they might not die, there might be effects that prevent them being able to fight again or reduce their usefulness. That is something I wish to avoid. So, for information on your newest and subsequent batches, instead of giving you written reports, I'll give you information on where I'm sending my men so you can see your seals in action for yourself when they encounter _hostile_ ninjas. Think of it as a field-testing for your experiments."

There was a long pause. Kabuto knew that he was grasping at straws because not a single man had died as a result Kokuten's seals. If anything, given Kokuten's mastery in fuinjutsu, these newest batches had already been perfected in terms of adverse events. Even the "failures" in the past did nothing to negatively affect any of his men.

Still part of what Kabuto said had been true. He did appreciate a good discussion on theory. He wasn't as obsessed with finding the meaning of the world as Orochimaru was, but he did want to have the knowledge and the infinite amount of resources to carry out experiments in order to create a much more beautiful world.

"I do not need to observe the results myself. Furthermore, I tire of your constant attempts to find loopholes in my orders. Do not think for one second that I don't know that your men are goading ninjas from other villages so your men can 'act in self defense.' You are intentionally trying to move against the great villages and the big five nations without my approval."

Kabuto frowned. How did this man know that? Was the man following his men already on their different missions? If so, Kabuto needed to take care of Kokuten as quickly as possible. Right now it didn't appear as if Kokuten knew of Kabuto's ultimate plan, but that may change.

"Ah. I shall relay strict commands to my men," Kabuto said in an apologetic tone. "It may appear as if I gave that order, but because of the background of my men," most of his forces were bandits and low-class missing ninjas, "it is rather difficult to fully control them. They are like raging beasts, you know. Not at all like cultured and educated men as we are. I assure you that this will not happen anymore."

Kokuten paused before nodding. "Very well. I accept your apology and, for now, I will even ignore your little tricks. But I will ask for double the payment."

Kabuto frowned. Money wasn't too difficult to get not that he was going after missing ninjas, but double the amount he normally paid was a high price. Still, information was useful and more important than money. So Kabuto nodded in agreement.

"Agreed. Now the explanation?"

"What do you know about using other sources of power instead of chakra?"

* * *

**Land of Hot Water – March 14, AK22**

Hanabi panted lightly as she dodged a kick. Hanabi flipped over while slashing with her sword at her newest enemy who had just arrived. She then quickly body flickered back to where her two teammates were.

All things considered, their plan to only use weapons and with Tenten taking the lead had gone well. Tenten had managed to cut the big crazed oaf down, but apparently the enemy had been part of a squad. They were now facing off three more ninjas. While they did not appear to be physical tanks as the first ninja who had kept fighting despite dozens of deep wounds, these three seemed to be much more intelligent. They also looked furious at seeing their teammate go down.

Hanabi glanced at her teammates with her Byakugan. She and they had wasted too much chakra trying to deal with the first ninja. They weren't wounded in the least, and still had plenty of energy left, but they were starting to get tired from spending too much chakra in an effort to dodge all the blows. An example was when Hanabi had found herself a few centimeters away from being grabbed. She had instinctively spun into a Kaiten, but instead of knocking the man back, all it did was slow him down as the dense chakra slowly dissipated on contact with the man. That extra second or two provided the time she needed to escape, but had cost a significant amount of chakra.

She was sure she was fairly certain that she was stronger than all the three ninjas in front of her combined, but with her best techniques ineffective, she was worried she might tire herself out before we could find a proper opening to kill them.

At the moment, though, it didn't appear as if she was going to be attacked.

By default, her range with the full 360-degree vision was around a kilometer, but she could extend that to nearly 10 kilometers by focusing in just one direction. Conversely, she could narrow the vision to 50 meters around her if she wanted even greater clarity of vision over range such as seeing the chakra points of her opponents, which she usually did in a battle. Right now, however, she needed to check to see if there were going to be any more enemies. Hanabi consciously extended the range of her Byakugan and quickly did a visual sweep of the area.

_I see someone in a cloak a little more than a kilometer away, holding a telescope towards this direction. Was he watching this battle the whole time?_

Hanabi did not miss the fact that he stood just outside the range of her Byakugan. That was no accident. The man was clearly informed of the capacities of the Byakugan and the habits of the Hyuuga. Hinata, being the only Hyuuga to be a regular part of a scouting and espionage squad, regularly used the telescopic capabilities of the Byakugan, but most Hyuuga were combat-oriented and preferred not to sacrifice the 360-degree vision that came with their regular Byakugan mode. They too, like Hanabi, preferred using the narrow and microscopic 50-meter vision so that they could see the chakra points in their opponents' bodies.

In any case, she would not have found this strange, cloaked man without shifting to the telescopic abilities of her eyes. This man was already aware of their identities.

Her eyes narrowed as she shifted them back to the default state to regain the full range of vision around her.

"We've been ordered not to avoid fights with ninjas as much as possible," one of them said, while taking up a battle stance, "but those orders didn't include times when we were attacked first."

"Hey! Your buddy down there attacked us first and even killed one of our teammates!" Tenten shouted. She glared at the red-haired man who looked ready to kill.

The enemies ignored Tenten. Another one placed his hand on the shoulder of the one who assumed a battle stance.

"Hey, stop it. Boss is going to be mad. No one's going to miss Mouzo. Besides we're running low on time. I estimate there's only about five minutes left at most."

"Five minutes is more than enough to take out these pieces of trash. This mission was a waste of my time and I'm in the mood for nailing some ladies. The one with the white eyes looks rather exotic."

Hanabi felt a surge of rage at that comment, but stamped that down in favor of regaining as much chakra as she could. She made a note to thank Uzumaki again for preparing her to deal with lewd comments and then internally groaned when she realized she had been thinking about him again.

Damn it, she was becoming worse than Hinata.

Hanabi made a sarcastic mental comment to herself that such traits must run in the family.

"Trash?! Do you not recognize her?" The lone female member in the squad was pointing at her. "That's Hanabi Hyuuga. You're going to get us killed, idiot! Get laid on your own time! Not while on a damn mission."

"Get your hands off me! A Hyuuga? That's even better! I bet Boss will reward us if we manage to capture her. Of course, that's after I've had my way with her!"

Hanabi readied herself and saw her teammates getting ready for battle as their enemies tried to stop their red-haired teammate.

She whispered to her teammates, "These guys have the same abilities as the first. Do not let them touch you. Also, there is someone about a kilometer away watching us. It may be an enemy so we'll have to conserve as much chakra as we can to escape or fight if he comes."

She received quick nods.

"If you bastards want to go back, then you can go by yourselves!" the first man roared as black marking covered him.

Hanabi pulled her sword in front of her to parry when the man she saw in the distance suddenly appeared before them and grabbed the blade with a gloved hand.

Instantly, she and her teammates jumped back into one of the trees to avoid whatever danger that might have appeared.

When it became clear that it was the same man that Hanabi had warned her teammates about, Tenten turned to her.

"Hanabi, I thought you said you said he was about a kilometer away!" Tenten hissed in an alarmed tone.

"Tenten, Hanabi wasn't wrong or trying to mislead us," Lee said before Hanabi could defend herself. He was uncharacteristically serious, "That was a space-time ninjutsu. An incredibly advanced one at that."

Tenten froze at that. It was well known that space-time ninjutsu could only be used by ninjutsu masters. This man was not weak.

Hanabi kept her eyes on the man while keeping up her guard, "Yes. He's quite skilled if he was able to cross a distance of more than a kilometer in less than a second with such precision. That's difficult to do even with space-time ninjutsu."

"Hey! Who the hell are you?"

"You were ordered to never be the aggressors," the man said in a slightly garbled voice. "It appears that Kabuto really does keep his men on a rather loose leash. Oh well, I suppose I already agreed to overlook the rash and reckless actions of his foolish followers."

"Kabuto?" Lee asked in a low voice. "Wasn't that the one who created those undead bodies during the war?"

Hanabi didn't know. She was far too young to be a big part of the war. She looked to Tenten for confirmation, but Tenten was too busy observing those below them.

"How do you know about Lord Kabuto?" demanded the kunoichi as black markings started covering her too. "Change of plans. We can't let anyone in the area get away with that information. Attack now!"

The red-haired ninja ripped his sword out of the man's grip and tried to thrust the sword forward as the other two rushed forward to help.

The cloaked man merely held up a single hand sign and held his other hand out.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flame Burst."

Hanabi had to shield her eyes as fire natured chakra erupted from the man's hand in the shape of a huge firebird before flashing forward at an incredibly fast speed. The chakra from the technique was intense.

_Such amazing power! That's more chakra than I have in my entire reserves!_

The huge wave of fire disappeared after about ten seconds, revealing three completely charred bodies.

Her jaw dropped. There was an indent in the earth three meters wide and a meter deep that extended for almost an entire kilometer. She personally hadn't seen such damage since the crater left by Pein during the Akatsuki invasion. She wasn't there to see the actual attack but she did get to see the results.

"What a shame," the man remarked as if he talking about the weather. "The chakra dispersion limit was much lower than I thought. The seals are too easily overloaded when the input of chakra is that high. I had hoped that they would survive with those seals on. But it seemed like all it did was to reduce the damage to keep their bodies in one shape."

Hanabi shivered slightly at the detached tone, not even bothering to hide her fear. The last fire technique contained more chakra than she had at full power but the man didn't even look winded. If the man wanted to kill her, there was nothing she could do about it.

Hanabi just continued to stare at the man with her mouth open, not caring about the undignified look she had on her face.

_This…this is the true difference in power between an A-rank and S-rank. I can see that the S-ranks are called masters for a reason. The power gap between elites and masters is absolutely ridiculous. Is…is this the realm that Naruto Uzumaki lives in?_

Uzumaki again.

She resigned herself to having him on her mind. There was a chance she could die and she might as well indulge herself before she did.

Hanabi reflected on what people said about him. Some said that the Toad Sage was an idiot with too much power, but it was at that moment that she realized just how inaccurate that was. A fool with this much power would have already destroyed the village at the first insult hurled at him. If he was being an idiot, it was because he _chose _to portray himself as such. To control this amount of power required a tremendous amount of maturity and wisdom.

Just how much did Uzumaki hide about himself from the world?

She shook herself out of her thoughts and looked at the cloaked man. It appeared that he too was wearing something that circumvented the Byakugan's ability to see chakra flow. However, instead of the emptiness that she saw in the previous ninjas, she just saw a dim yellow light without any pathways or chakra points. Hanabi guessed that his chakra signal would be blinding had he not worn those black chakra-muting robes and cloak.

The man turned to face them. Hanabi saw that even his face was covered with a black mask. There was nothing to tell her where he was from.

"Now then, Konoha shinobi, what shall I do with you?"

Hanabi didn't dare answer and just stood there shivering in fear. Despite the lack of killing intent in the air, the man's aura was heavy. She looked at her teammates. Tenten wasn't faring any better and looked like she was about to pass out. Lee seemed to handling it much better than either of them, but Hanabi suspected that that was because he experienced extremely high levels of killing at close range during the Fourth Shinobi World War. On the other hand, for Hanabi, it was the first time she was facing anyone putting out this much power.

Lee jumped down smoothly, not appearing to care about pressure in the air. Hanabi knew better though. Her Byakugan saw through the act. Lee was extremely wary of the man and was looking for a way to escape.

"We do not wish to fight. We were merely fighting a defensive battle with those other ninjas."

"To think that you can move so freely under the full unrestrained pressure of my aura," the man commented in an impressed tone. "Fantastic. Even the Hyuuga. While she is mentally afraid of action, it appears that she is able to move her body at will. Your last teammate just fainted from the pressure, but still lasted quite longer than I expected. Not at all a bad squad, all things considered. Konoha has some talented ninjas."

Hanabi forced herself to stop shivering and consciously expanded her chakra around her to shield herself from the effects of the chakra pressure a bit more.

She felt the pressure diminish slightly, but not disappear.

But it did become easier to ignore the part of her brain screaming at her to curl up into a ball and cry.

She jumped down next to Lee. The man didn't seem bloodthirsty so there was a chance that they might be able to talk their way out of this situation.

"My teammate is correct. We were finishing up a mission when we were attacked by what appeared to be a rabid ninja who had lost any sense of reason."

Hanabi desperately prayed that this man would just walk away. A fight would not end in their favor.

The man chuckled. "And you want me to let you leave with your lives because you have no desire to fight me. What would you do if I said no?"

Hanabi didn't get a chance to contemplate her response as she saw Lee press the release on his weights, instantly open up four of the Inner Gates, and rush towards the man at incredible speeds that she herself was not capable of reaching. The entire process took less than quarter of a second.

His incredibly strong kick created a pressurized airwave that ended up knocking down more trees than she cared to count.

But he still only hit air.

Hanabi had her Byakugan on and was still not able to completely catch the motion. It was one of those rare moments she wished she had the Sharingan and its ability to perfectly catch, predict, and memorize motion rather than the distance, depth and range of vision that the Byakugan provided. Although, if she thought about it a second time, perhaps it was better that she couldn't see how outclassed she was.

"I suppose you answered my question," the man said in an amused tone, "but your answer is quite foolish. It is especially foolish considering that I usually only attack those who attack me first."

The man had somehow managed to outflank Lee and had gotten behind the kick. The man grabbed the back of Lee's neck and held him in the air. Lee screamed in pain and then stopped struggling altogether before he was tossed to the side.

Lee didn't twitch.

Something snapped in her as she saw her second teammate go down. Hanabi had already one teammate die today and the dam she placed over her raging emotions burst.

Without any regard for her own life, she charged at the man with a wild scream, unconsciously activating the Gentle Fist Twin Lion Fists and her personal invention Gentle Fist Twin Lion Feet as she ran.

Arms and feet blazing with blue chakra she jumped into the air and went for a kick with her left foot.

The man ducked.

She landed and twisted in one motion as if it were a dance and swung her right arm…

…and felt a jerk the instant she swung.

Coming back to her senses, she realized that he had grabbed her palm. She didn't even know where to begin in figuring out how he grabbed her chakra-charged fist with no damage, but she reacted without even thinking. If pure chakra wasn't going to do damage, then…

_Water Release: Burst whip!_

She swung her other arm as quickly as she could and saw it hit his face, knocking his mask off and sending him to the ground. She frowned. There was something odd about this. How did she manage to hit the man when Lee had failed even after opening four of the…

"Release!" she shouted as she broke the genjutsu. Her Byakugan had told her that a foreign force was manipulating her chakra. The genjutsu was highly subtle, as very few things about the scene had changed. It was probably why she had taken so long to figure out she was in a genjutsu. Being a Hyuuga, she usually detected and broke the genjutsu techniques before they even took effect in her mind. This time, she had taken five seconds to notice something wrong with her system.

The situation was never good to begin with, but this made it even worse. Her enemy was already skilled in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and fuinjutsu. But he even showed enough skill in genjutsu to fool her Byakugan for a few seconds.

Forget S-rank. Forget master level. This man was a _god_.

"I'm impressed," the man intoned from behind her.

_When did he?! _Hanabi frantically thought she as twisted and slammed her uninjured palm forward as hard as she could.

Once again she felt a jerk a millisecond after she swung.

And once again, the man had grabbed her hand.

This time she flowed with her still present momentum from her initial twisting and shifted her feet in that same direction to activate Kaiten.

Her Kaiten died before it even started and the chakra surrounding her limbs began to fade. She struggled to keep her techniques active. This man appeared to have some kind of ability to negate pure chakra attacks.

It would have to be another elemental attack then. He had dodged the last one so elemental attacks must be his weakness, if it could even be called that. At the very least, he would be forced to dodge again.

But given the state her hand was in, she wouldn't be able to channels wind properly. Hanabi grit her teeth. She would be hurt, but she would at least do heavy damage to the man.

"Wind Relea—!" she began.

"Stop," he commanded forcefully. "If you activate that technique, you will die."

He crushed her hand even harder.

Hanabi stopped resisting once the pain became nearly unbearable. She let the chakra in her arms and feet die out. She resorted to glaring at the man, ignoring the pain in her hand from his tight grip. She still did not understand how the man had blocked her attack so easily.

"The look on your face is asking 'how did he stop my blow,' correct?" The man didn't even wait for her response. "Chakra theory is quite fascinating to anyone who studies it religiously. Anything made with chakra," he recited, "can be destroyed with chakra. I just dispersed your Gentle Fist techniques by forcing even more chakra in the reverse direction. This is quite similar to how Gentle Fist users repel blows from other Gentle Fist users. It's quite simple."

There was a pause gazed intently at her. She couldn't see his eyes through his mask, but she could feel his look on her.

"Well then?" he inquired as he strengthened his grip. "Will you beg for mercy? Will you plead for your life?"

"Save your breath. Hurry up and just have your way with me," she spat out defiantly despite having fallen on one knee from the crushing pain in her hand. Even while completely outclassed, she would go down with pride. "Hurt me, rape me, kill me, whatever you want!" she spoke with gritted teeth. It felt as if all the bones in her hands were being crushed to dust. "It's not like you'll get your way with a woman any way else," she taunted. "I bet that's the reason why you have your face covered. Women probably run away from you, screaming their heads off."

It was an immature insult and one that would do nothing to change the situation, but Hanabi couldn't think of anything else to show her defiance.

She gasped as a wave of killing intent washed over her for the first time in their one-sided battle. She found herself unable to breathe or even struggle anymore. She fell to the ground as the man let her hand go.

She found herself looking straight at the man as he grabbed her chin with one hand and forced her head up.

"Hurt you? I have already done so without even trying," the man said slowly as the killing intent continued to increase. Hanabi held back a whimper. "Rape you?" There was a small pause as he gazed at her. "I have no desire for what your body has to offer. Do not insult me. Tell me, girl, would you sleep with an _insect_?"

Not able to control herself once again, Hanabi screamed in anger and started kicking him while attempting to pry the man's fingers off her neck with her badly injured hands. She could accept that there were stronger people than her. But she would not take insults to her pride. She was not a worthless insect.

She instinctively channeled even more chakra into her eyes. She could barely move but maybe if she wished it enough, she could burn him to death with her eyes. Perhaps she was weak, but she was not pathetic.

"Kill you, was it? I like that look in your eyes. It would be a waste if you died."

Hanabi vision changed for a second and she thought she could see red eyes behind the mask. Then she saw black.

* * *

AN: And that's the end of the introduction arc!

I envision it like this. There are ~10,000 ninjas for each of the great villages; the bulk of which are chuunin. A little more than a tenth of that will be special jounin, which includes ANBU. A tenth of that—so we're now down to only a 100—are jounin. Maybe twenty or so of these jounin are A-ranks and a couple, if that, are S-ranks. One of the S-ranks will be the kage.

In this story, I have the Rookie Nine as special jounin and jounin. They are all at least _B-rank_, which is incredibly powerful. Konoha has only three S-ranks ninjas at the moment: Gai, Kakashi, and Naruto. Four if you want to count Temari. Sakura was very close to being an S-rank before her untimely "demise."

I'll post up a "chapter" after every arc showing the updated stats of the relevant characters.

I always found it annoying to see everyone being listed as S-class and then SS & SSS ranks being introduced to make certain characters even stronger. What's the point of having a secret "S" rank if everyone ended up being an S-rank?

A few questions might be asked here, one of which being: "Does that mean S-ranks will always beat A-ranks?" No. There are other factors like intelligence, tactics, fighting styles, and special abilities that go into play. You'll see this in the future.

I'm going to use the following terms somewhat interchangeably since it's rather annoying to say S-ranks all the time.

D-rank = Genin = Trainee/Beginner

C-rank = Chuunin = Practitioner

B-rank = Jounin = Expert

A-rank = Elite Jounin = Elite

S-rank = Master


	7. Engagement - 1st the Worst, 2nd the Best

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. This is fanfiction, after all.**

* * *

**Konoha General Assembly Hall, Konoha – March 15, AK 22**

Contrary to what people thought, Hiashi Hyuuga was not a greedy man. He was stoic and strict, perhaps, but not evil. Hiashi merely looked out for the best interests of his family and clan. He never once took action for personal gain. However, even the most unselfish person could not ignore the opportunity that the Hokage offered the previous night.

Hiashi looked around the room and tuned out the debate between the Kurama and the Kohaku clan heads over water regulations. Normally, he would have been paying full attention to what was being said, but today Hiashi was only concerned with the final proposal for the day.

His eyes swept the room and landed on one blond boy at the other side of the room. Hiashi allowed himself a tiny smile as he reflected upon his time with the Fourth. The years had gone by all too quickly. Instead of looking forward to the wedding of the Yellow Flash, he was now looking forward to the wedding of the Yellow Flash's son.

The Hokage had summoned and informed him that the Land of Spring and the Demon Country both requested a political marriage involving Naruto Uzumaki. Uzumaki himself would remain a Konoha ninja, but at least one of the heirs would have to return to the mother's country. Hiashi frowned at the thought of Uzumaki's children potentially living in another country. No matter how peaceful the world was right now, one simply did not freely hand a power like the Uzumaki bloodline to another country. It was already bad enough that there were wandering Uzumaki clan members out in the world.

The Hokage himself seemed to agree. The only way, however to stop such political marriages without offending (and potentially starting a war with) the other countries was a domestic marriage.

Hiashi had many times considered forcefully encouraging or perhaps even ordering his first-born to aggressively pursue the young man, in hopes that the oblivious boy would finally return her affections. Hiashi mentally groaned as he thought about his daughter's _fifteen-year_ crush. Not only was Hinata weak, she couldn't even love a boy properly and gain his affections.

He shook his head. Even though Uzumaki had not responded, fortunately, that crush, affection, love, or whatever Hinata had impressed the Sixth enough to come up with a proposal that would all but cement the Hyuuga's standing as the strongest clan in the village. The Hyuuga, of course, would have to pay a price. But the cost was nothing compared to the gains of having some measure of influence on the future Hokage.

Hiashi would never use the influence for immoral purposes, of course. He merely wanted to contribute a bit more in how the village was run so that the Hyuuga clan would not have to pick up the slack as it did so often. The Hyuuga clan had taken the most number of casualties among the clans because they had to cover the backs of everyone else. That could have been avoided if the Hokage had been persuaded to make the Academy more rigorous for example.

No matter what people said about him, Hiashi was a patriot. The entire Hyuuga clan was patriotic to the village. They had sworn their loyalty all those years ago when they first joined the village and they were honor-bound to protect the village to the best of their abilities. Hiashi had a duty as clan head to be as ambitious as possible to honor that agreement.

Of course, the prestige gained from being the father-in-law the Hokage was a decent bonus, but that was not his primary reason why he was pushing for a marriage between his first daughter and Uzumaki. Hiashi wanted to ensure peace within the village. What better way to do it than to lend his wisdom to a Hokage son-in-law?

Hiashi looked up when he saw the Sixth bring up the last proposal for the day.

"Now that all the…issues…were taken care of," drawled the silver-haired Hokage in a very slow voice. Hiashi resisted the urge to twitch in annoyance. The man was purposely drawing this out to annoy him. "There is one final proposal that was not put on the list. Lord Nara, if you will…"

"Eh?" Hiashi turned to look at the speaker. It had been Shikaku's son. The young man had just recently taken the position as clan heir from his mother after his own political wedding with the Suna princess two years ago. It was what cemented the permanent alliance between Konoha and Suna. There were even talks about uniting the two villages completely. "You want me to explain it? What a drag…"

It was only his Hyuuga upbringing that was able to stop him from rolling his eyes at the comment. The lazy Nara thought everything was troublesome.

"Well, alright," Shikamaru Nara stated in a bored voice, "this only came in yesterday but was so urgent that we had to rush it into today's meeting. We have a couple countries requesting a political marriage."

"Political marriage? With whom?" the Yamanaka regent asked. It was the wife of one of his old classmates, Inoichi Yamanaka. After his untimely death in the war, she had taken up the mantle while preparing her daughter for her eventual rise to the clan head position.

The black-haired clan head merely pointed his finger towards the youngest member of the chamber.

"What? Me?" Uzumaki gaped. "Why wasn't I the first person to be notified? You bastard! I bet this is for the time I painted all your deer orange!"

There was a small pause as snickers were heard around the chamber. Hiashi wanted to groan. This _prankster_ was going to be his future son-in-law. Even if he was a strict father, he was not a cruel one. Hiashi would normally never throw his daughter away to an uncultured brute. It was only because Hiashi recognized that Uzumaki had much more depth and strength—both physical and political—than most people realized that he was allowing a marriage between Uzumaki and his first daughter.

"That was you?" The Nara exclaimed. "I didn't even know although if I really think about it, there's no one else who would have used orange paint." The Nara rubbed the back of his head in irritation, "Ugh, Naruto, you're such a troublesome idiot." There were more chuckles around the room. "In any case, we're telling you now. It's only been around twelve hours since we got the message. We figured you might appreciate a good night's rest without something like this hanging over your head. The two interested parties are the Demon Country and Land of Spring. They are all but demanding a political marriage to Priestess Shion and Daimyo Koyuki Kazahana, respectively. It seems that they have heard of recent events."

The chamber became eerily quiet as everyone was reminded of the Fifth's apprentice. It had been a few months now since the death of Sakura Haruno. It wasn't a minor matter when such a high profile ninja, one who had been a candidate for the position of Hokage and on the verge of achieving S-rank, unexpectedly died via assassination. When it happened, the fact that Naruto Uzumaki was a free man was not lost on anyone in the village. But now, it appeared that even the other countries had gotten the memo as well.

Hiashi saw a flash of intelligence and awareness flicker in the Sage's eyes. Uzumaki's tone became uncharacteristically dangerous. "I see."

The Sixth interrupted before anything could happen. "Let's calm down now. We all understand how you feel, but we still have to follow protocol."

Uzumaki had matured a great deal and had finally developed some control of his emotions, but the loss of a loved one wasn't easy for anyone to deal with. Uzumaki, for all his talents and skills, was still quite the emotional boy. It was obvious to everyone present that he still had not gotten over the death of Sakura Haruno.

The Sixth motioned for the Nara to continue.

"Lord Uzumaki," Nara said in a formal voice that sounded rather bored, "do you agree to accept either of these offers?"

"No," came the curt response. The tone was still dangerous and Hiashi felt himself shiver slightly. There was no killing intent in the air, but the young man, despite his still somewhat brash attitude, was still able to command such a presence. It was extremely fortunate that he had such dedication and loyalty to Konoha. Otherwise, the village might have been torn apart many, many times before when the villager had mistreated Uzumaki when he was younger.

The Sixth chose this time to enter the conversation again.

"Naruto," he said, breaking all rules of conduct by being informal, "wars have been started for less. You can't just flatly refuse requests from _leaders of their respective countries_. Even if you refuse these two, we've heard rumors that the Daimyo from the Land of Birds is also considering to send a request for political marriage with you as well. Something like this is going to be a regular occurrence for you if you don't find someone soon."

There was a long pause.

"They can all go to hell. I still refuse and will refuse them all. I'm only going to marry someone I love or intend to love."

Hiashi looked around and met the eyes of some of the other clan heads. While it was likely that they were now all trying to get one of their clan members to marry Uzumaki, they had to cooperate to even get to that point.

"Lord Uzumaki, may we ask why? Your late teammate and girlfriend is no longer alive and you yourself have expressed an interest to revive your clan. So shouldn't you have been emotionally prepared for something like this?" Shibi Aburame asked in polite tone.

"Indeed, Lord Uzumaki," Reina Hagoromo said in the characteristic melodious voice of the Hagoromo clan who used angelic songs to put their enemies in a genjutsu, "I am not personally familiar with you, but your greatest ability, according to the late Lord Jiraiya, is your capacity to accept and love others. Can you find it in your heart to accept someone else in your life?"

Uzumaki shook his head sadly. "Accept? Yes. Love? I'm not too sure. My heart itself is not something that can just be given away so freely."

"I thought that you might say that. However," the Hokage paused, "we must give a valid response. Otherwise, we'd risk offending them. War might not happen _now_, but anger from such offenses lingers until a valid enough excuse for war comes around. If you want to protect those in the village you love so much, then you don't have a lot of choices. In fact, there's only one option if you want to avoid these political marriages."

Uzumaki's expression became hard once again. "I see. You're forcing me into an arranged marriage with a girl from a prominent clan or family at home then."

Hiashi couldn't help but be slightly surprised at the boy's sharp mind. Perhaps he wasn't talented at memorizing rules and history, but Uzumaki was definitely quick on the uptake in surprising situations. Yes, Uzumaki wasn't the ideal son-in-law, but Hiashi knew he could do a lot worse than the Golden Sun of Konoha.

Hiashi knew that the rest of the elders and his own father, the Grand Elder, hated Uzumaki with a passion because of his lack of respect for tradition, but Hiashi was sure he could convince them by playing the "a Hyuuga will be the wife of the future Hokage" card. They were not so shallow as to let their hatred for a boy make them overlook the potential benefits of being a clan directly associated with the Hokage and his family.

_And also,_ Hiashi thought darkly,_ none of them care enough about Hinata to stop her from marrying someone they hate._

Nara let out a loud sigh. "Look Naruto, you're one of my best friends and I really feel for you. But, there's not much we can do. Kumo, Iwa, and Kiri withdrew from the Grand Ninja Alliance fairly early after the war and since then we've been trying to keep the fragile peace in the world. We cannot make enemies out of two friendly nations—especially ones that are quite wealthy—by saying you just don't want to marry their leaders. The only _valid_excuse would be if you were already engaged and married to someone here. Look at it this way, if you choose someone here, at the very least, Konoha and the involved clan can be flexible and give you a lot more time to sort out your feeling with regards to Sakura. So while you might have to marry as soon as possible, you won't be pressured to father an heir any time soon."

The Hokage added, "Furthermore, the girls at home already know you and may love you for who you are."

Hiashi knew that that was his cue to jump him.

"Lord Uzumaki, my first-born daughter, Hinata, has been rather enamored with you. To be honest, she has had you in her heart for fifteen years. I can assure you that she, above all else, loves you for who you are."

Hiashi ignored the envious murmurs of the other clan heads and civilian councilors around him and carefully studied the young man as his expression softened. Hiashi could notice the warring feelings playing out in Uzumaki's heart. It was clear Uzumaki did not love Hinata, but the Sage also felt that he owed Hinata a debt.

Hiashi had initially berated his daughter—out of love, of course—for rushing in without thinking to save Uzumaki's life during the Akatsuki leader's attack and using her own body to shield him in the last war, which led to Neji's death, but her foolhardy actions were about to pay dividends here.

Sensing the loosening of the tension in the room, the Yamanaka regent, Inoichi's wife, joined in. "My daughter has been your classmate when both of you were in the Academy and has been on friendly terms with you for a long time. If you were to choose her, she could definitely give you all the time you need. After all, she herself is rather heartbroken about Sakura. Perhaps the two of you may become close because of your close bonds with a mutual friend."

Hiashi carefully waited as the other clan heads took their turns in offering girls to the young clan head. To be honest, the practice was distasteful and it sounded as if they were trying to sell cattle, but unfortunately, political marriages were often what kept people alive. Sounding like bartering idiots and objectifying their daughters were small prices to pay for either peace or power or both. While he himself would not deny that a political marriage with the future Hokage was beneficial to the Hyuuga clan, his daughter at least genuinely loved the young Uzumaki. Unlike others, he could at least convince himself that he was acting as a caring father on behalf of his daughter.

"I refuse." The blonde crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "I tried to convince myself to do this, but I can't just give away my heart like that. If all of you don't like that, then you can all just kiss my ass."

"Naruto," Hatake said with a touch of irritation in his voice at the vulgar statement. "Let me list out a bunch of reasons why this would be good for you. If you marry a girl from a prominent clan, you have greater influence in the council." Hiashi could see that Uzumaki was about to speak up, but Hatake continued on. "You might not care about what the council thinks, but having more influence on this council would help in your attempt to become a _good_ Hokage. This is not a military dictatorship where the Hokage makes all the rules. You can't just pass proposals unilaterally; you need the support of those you rule over. Being connected with one of the other noble clans would help you immensely."

"Don't care," came the short response.

The Hokage groaned. "Look, if you need more convincing, think of this: your fan club will lose a ton of members once women see you're off the market for good."

There were some snickers at that last sentence. It was no secret that Uzumaki was popular among the girls in Konoha. It was rather entertaining to see dozens of clones running away from rabid fangirls from time to time when the clan head was not away on missions.

"I…" Hiashi saw his chance when he saw the boy's resolve crumble even more.

Hiashi cleared his throat as he pulled out his trump card. "Might I point out that the Hyuuga clan has its own ramen chef and a copy of the Ichiraku's recipe for their miso ramen? We could offer you free ramen whenever you visit."

Hiashi smirked as he saw Uzumaki's eyes widen slightly. He had to hand it to the Hokage. The Sixth really did know his student well. It had been the Hokage's idea for the Hyuuga clan to buy the recipes for the boy's favorite ramen. The recipes cost a lot more than expected, especially since he demanded exclusive access, but the loss of money was trivial should Uzumaki became his son-in-law.

There was dead silence for about ten seconds. Then all hell broke loose as the other clan heads and councilors—minus the grumbling Nara—claimed that they too had excellent ramen chefs. Hiashi looked on with amusement as Chouza Akimichi claimed that his Akimichi chefs made even better ramen than Ichiraku's and the Unkai Kurama claiming that they could even make vegetables taste like ramen with their genjutsu.

Surprisingly, the Toad Sage remained quiet for a long time and seemed to ignore everyone else. His eyes bore into Hiashi.

"Hiashi," Uzumaki said, not even bothering with honorifics. "Before I agree to anything, let me ask you something. Are you doing this for Hinata or for your clan?"

Hiashi closed his eyes and restrained himself from growling in irritation. He knew it was in the _boy's_ nature to be informal, especially with his manners, so he decided to overlook the blatant lack of respect. In fact, the boy probably did that on purpose just to prove his point that Hiashi was more about cold rules and less about love. Hiashi had to be careful with his response and could not overreact. The boy…no…man was still the Toad Sage and would not be fooled by a lie or even a half-truth. Hiashi decided to speak the full honest truth.

"Sometimes, in those fortunate rare cases, the desires of a father and the duties of a clan head are aligned. I will admit that this is one such case."

"I see." Uzumaki nodded sagely. Hiashi merely hoped that his sincere response would be enough to satisfy the young man. "I'm curious to see which of those aspects comes out on top. Because I don't want to marry Hinata."

"Naruto!" Nara shouted in an exasperated tone before anyone else could eagerly "advertise" his or her own daughter or niece again. "She loved you for years! Why can't you even give her a chance? Don't you remember what it was like when Sakura kept rejecting you? You're doing the same thing with Hinata! She almost died for you twice!"

Hiashi took note of the fact that Uzumaki was still looking at him. He prided himself for being a master at reading people and knew that Uzumaki's response hadn't been a simple rejection.

"Naruto!" The Sixth admonished before trying to carry out _his_ end of the deal. The Sixth Hokage had promised to do his best to swing Uzumaki's favor towards Hinata for the Hyuuga clan's support in future proposals. "Think about what Hinata's done for you over the years. Don't be so self—"

"Kakashi-sensei," Uzumaki cut him off. Hiashi was beginning to feel unnerved by those blue eyes but continued to match the Sage's gaze. "Shut up."

The silence was deafening. Almost everyone in the room was gaping at the young clan head. One did not simply insult the Hokage like that.

"Naruto…" the Hokage growled.

"Hiashi, I don't want Hinata as my wife." Uzumaki repeated, ignoring the Hokage.

Hiashi nodded. There was something more here. Perhaps a deal? "You have said that already. And?"

Hiashi suddenly had a foreboding feeling.

"I want Hanabi."

* * *

**Yamanaka Flower Shop, Konoha – March 16, AK22**

"Mom?" Ino said after returning home from a walk around the marketplace.

"Yes, dear, what is it?"

Ino paused to carefully word her next words. "Is Naruto getting married?"

Her mom froze. "Ino dear, where did you hear that?"

Ino mentally frowned. Based on her mother's actions, there was something to the rumors that she had been hearing all morning. "I heard rumors from the villagers. Something about how the general assembly yesterday forced him to marry a girl because he was the last of his clan. Everyone's been talking about it."

Her mother relaxed. "Well, you know that the details of the general assembly are classified. Even if you're my daughter, I can't give away details like that." Her mother gave her a sad look. "No matter how much I might want to," she added.

"But everyone knows that information from the general assembly is leaked out to the public by the civilian representatives. You can't just tell me that it's classified when half the village already knows something is going on!"

"Well, Ino," her mom said with a chuckle. "Yesterday's meeting in particular was special. The civilians only know the surface story, but the ninjas carried a secret conversation yesterday."

"Ugh. Just tell me if he's getting married or not!"

"That's a secret, dear," her mom smiled.

"_Mom!_ You know I can keep a secret! I'm not the department head of the communications department for no reason!"

Her mother laughed. "Well, that's because you're good at communicating. Secrets require not telling other people," there was a knowing look in her eyes, "as in _not communicating_."

Ino groaned. "When will people ever get over that? I'm not a gossip! I haven't gossiped in years!"

"Keep telling yourself that, honey, and you might actually believe it."

"Ugh. You're so hard to deal with. How difficult is it to just say yes or no?"

"Look, Ino," her mother sighed. "If Naruto _is_ getting married, then you'll eventually find out. Why is it so important that you find out _now_?"

"Because I want to know _now_," Ino fired back.

"And that's what makes you a gossip, Ino."

"I can't believe my own mother is insulting me," Ino said in exasperation. "I want to know now so I can do something about it!"

Her mother laughed. "It's not something you have control over, Ino. And besides, from what I _can_ tell you, nothing is confirmed yet."

Ino looked at her mother hopefully. "So those rumors are just rumors?"

"Ino?"

Ino and her mother both turned their heads to the door. "Oh, Shikamaru, what brings you here today? Flowers for Temari?"

Ino snorted. "As if he has it in him to do that. He'll just call it troublesome or something."

"Because it _is_ troublesome. It's annoying carrying around those things all over town. People keep asking who the lucky, or in some cases, unlucky, lady is and it takes at least an hour longer to get back home."

Ino scowled. "Yes, exactly. An hour of your time declaring your love for your life in public is such torture. I can't believe that she even agreed to get married to you."

The shadow user just yawned. "In any case, I'm here because Ino gave me a call earlier and told me she wanted to see me."

"I'm guessing it's about the same question she asked me," her mother laughed. "Ino wants to know if her love interest is getting married."

"_Mom!_" Ino screamed with embarrassment. "I do _not_ like Naruto in that way. He's cute and he's an old friend, but he belongs to—"

Ino quickly shut her mouth at that point. She was moments away from revealing that Sakura was alive. Fortunately, however, her mother took the somber expression on her face as sadness and reminiscing.

"Ino," she said gently, "Sakura is dead. The faster you come to realize that, the better off you'll be. I know you're heartbroken over losing your best friend, but you can't keep living in the past."

Ino nodded, not looking at Shikamaru who was undoubtedly giving her a hard look.

"Yeah, but…" Ino began.

"In any case," Shikamaru interrupted, "I can't reveal anything about last night's meeting either. If your mother wouldn't, why would I? Ino, sometimes it's just better for you not to know things until the proper time."

Ino turned to glare at him. "Well, excuse _me_ for wanting to know if my friend is getting forced to make a decision he doesn't want. I'm just looking out for his best interests. I even heard you were a big part of doing this to Naruto. You should know better!"

With that, she stomped out of the flower shop. Damn them. Damn both her mother and Shikamaru.

She didn't know what to believe. Usually the rumors had some grains of truth in them, except Ino couldn't see Naruto agreeing to get married. He wouldn't betray Sakura like that, would he? He would raze half the village before someone took his chance with Sakura away.

She was suddenly hit with the realization that Naruto didn't know that Sakura was still alive. If the rumors were true—Ino refused to believe that they were—then Sakura would be devastated upon waking up. Sakura was already betrayed once by Sasuke. Even if it was unwilling, if Naruto abandoned her too…

"UGH!" she screamed in frustration. "This is just so ridiculous! Why does the world have to be so damn complicated?!"

"Ino," Knowing who it was, she took a huge swing only to find herself completely immobile. "Too predictable," Shikamaru drawled. "The first thing you do when you get angry is to lash out."

"Shut it, you lazy ass," she growled out. "You just had to completely ruin my mood for the day."

"Me? That was completely on you. You were about to reveal classified information. How can we trust you with more if you can't even keep the things you already know confidential?"

"I didn't reveal anything, you shitface." Ino rarely cursed, but Shikamaru was really getting on her nerves. In the past, it had been because he was insufferably lazy. But now, her teammate's dull tone just sounded condescending. She was not in the mood for his holier-than-thou lectures today.

"Not with your words, but your body language and attitude," Shikamaru fired back. "You're living with the attitude that _she_ is still alive when, for all practical purposes, she is not. You'll just ending up hurting yourself even more."

He was right, but she was too stubborn to admit to his face. "How would you react if Chouji died?" she said scathingly, hoping that Shikamaru would recoil back in shock.

He didn't give her that satisfaction.

"I would mourn him and then move on. He would want that as well," he replied simply. "Do you think Sakura would want you to act like a spoiled child? You're an A-rank ninja. People suffer. People die. This time it just happened to be your best friend. _Get over it! _At least with your best friend, it's not permanent, you troublesome ingrate."

"Why, you!" she resisted the shadows binding her as much as she could before giving up. "Ugh! It's not even that classified. The civilian councilors leak information all the time. So what if I hear a few more details?! I just want to help my friends! I don't want Naruto making a decision he'll end up regretting later on!"

"But what you're doing is not helping at all, Ino." Ino felt the shadow binds release her. "Let's say that Naruto _is_ getting married. Then what will you do? March to his house right now and demand that he stay loyal to his _dead_ girlfriend? Or will you try to go to the person he's getting married to and threaten her? None of those actions help the situation at all. There's a reason why no one is confirming or denying anything at this point, even with all the leaks."

"I can tell that there's _something_ going on. It would be much easier for you to deny it quickly instead of having a prolonged discussion."

"Perhaps," Shikamaru admitted. "You know better than I do that rumors have a grain of truth to them. But honestly, at this point, I can't say anything because nothing is for sure right now. We are just as confused as you are right now, Ino."

Ino raised an eyebrow. "What is that supposed to mean? Isn't it a simple question of whether he's getting married or not?"

"Ino," Shikamaru said in an irritated tone, "nothing we do is just simple. Every decision we make affects the balance of power in this village, and of course, in the Elemental Nations."

Ino gave up trying to pry information from her friend. It just wasn't going to happen.

"I hate it when you talk like that. You make it sound like another war might break out," Ino said grumpily before letting her shoulders slump. "Every decision we make has to be deliberate so we don't cause problems in international affairs. Why do we have to continue doing something stupid like that instead of just living? When will all of this be over? Wasn't the last war supposed to be the war to end all wars? Why are we still fighting, damn it?!"

"To protect the future generation. Every time I feel the same way you do, I look at Kurenai and little Mayumi. I owe it to Asuma to make sure that his daughter grows up in peace."

"Peace?" she repeated. "This is just the appearance of peace. This so-called peace is built on the backs of those who suffer and die. Do you think Naruto would call this peace?"

"No, he wouldn't," came the honest response. "But I know him well enough that he won't give up until true peace finally arrives. It's that same hope that keeps us all moving forward."

* * *

**Tazaku Town, Land of Fire – March 16, AK22**

Sasame traced the mark on her right upper arm that marked her as a slave. It was currently covered with her gear, but she was always conscious of it. It was a constant reminder of how her clan completely fell apart and how much her life had changed.

Sasame had nothing to shame her clan. She had been quite strong, but her clan had gone bankrupt from the lack of missions. The great villages, especially Konoha, had a monopoly on all types of missions and so the remnants of her clan had decided to sell her off to cover their debts. She had managed to fight her captors off, despite being heavily drugged and before they managed to slap a chakra restraining seal on her, but it had been too late. She had already been branded with a chakra burn. That had been three years ago.

"You're always doing that. Stop."

Sasame looked up at the blond man who had just grabbed her hand. "You would be too, Naruto, if you were a slave."

"And stop calling yourself that. A burn on your arm does not determine your worth or status."

"A _permanent_ chakra burn, I should point out. A burn that signals to the nearest slave trading station that I'm on the loose," Sasame remarked sadly.

"But you're strong enough to escape," Naruto pointed out.

Sasame shook her head. "Only until someone cares enough about me to start sending a squad of jounin after me. I might be able to fight off the first squad, but it's only going to get worse after that. Eventually, I'm going to have to start fighting multiple elites and that's not a war I can win."

"Tch. Who'd pay that much money to go after just one person?" Naruto asked. "No offense, but it just seems like a waste of money to me."

Sasame snorted. "You might not recognize it," she teased, "but I am a pretty woman. Men would love to have me serve them, even if just to keep them company at night. Then there are always those who feel like former kunoichi are exotic 'specimens' to have around. My clan was paid a huge amount of money when they sold me so the company that purchased me won't simply just let me walk around freely until they get _some_ return on their investment."

"Ugh. How revolting," Naruto muttered.

Sasame nodded sadly. "Perhaps, but that's the way of this world. Anyway, enough about that. What brings you here? On your way back from a mission?"

Naruto frequently visited her after his missions. He claimed it was to take a break and to get information about the outside world, but she knew that he was primarily just checking to make sure that she was safe and still free.

Naruto shook his head. "I got back to Konoha two days ago after a quick two day mission. My team is currently on a C-rank mission here and I thought I'd visit," he said.

"C-rank? Since when did you get missions that low?"

"I got assigned a genin team."

Sasame smiled encouragingly at him. "Since you had to fight for your own teacher's attention every step of the way, I'm sure you'll know to shower your students with the care they need. And besides, they're not your first students either. You have already taught—"

"Sasame," Naruto warned. "We're in public. Don't talk about those kinds of stuff freely like that."

She pouted. "Awww…I figured you'd have privacy seals around us already. I could activate my own if you're feeling lazy. I have a lot to tell you about_her_." She just smiled mischievously when he glared at her. "Hey! I didn't say her name out loud so don't scold me."

"It's not like I want to be all secretive." Naruto scowled. "I can't do that because my cute little genin constantly try to spy on me and would get even more suspicious if I put up privacy seals. Look," Naruto pointed at a nearby table where three large men just sat down, "they're in those pathetic disguises thinking they could fool me." There were three identical puffs of smoke, which revealed three little kids who scampered away after being caught.

Sasame laughed heartily at that. Naruto appeared to be annoyed by his students but she could tell he was fond of them. "What did you do to them that they want to find out about your secret life?"

"Oh nothing like the usual. _He_ would say I'm being too soft of them because they're kids. He'd be asking me to smack them around like I did to him. But, to be honest," Naruto sighed, "it's because they think I have a girlfriend."

Sasame nearly jumped at that. "A girlfriend? Since when? I thought S…Sakura was…"

He scratched his head. "Ah, well. That's part of the reason why I'm here."

"Huh?"

"I wanted to offer you something."

Sasame looked at him. "Offer me something?"

She briefly wondered if he was going to make her pretend to be his girlfriend to satisfy his children's curiosity. It wouldn't be a bad thing necessary and she would be more than happy to do it, but she was worried that she might actually start believing it once she started to play the role. And then when it ended, she would be devastated.

"Well, you're always living in fear that you'll be caught for being a slave and sent to a cruel master who'd take advantage of you and abuse you in every possible way. I'm taking that fear away."

She groaned and mentally kicked herself at her foolish thought. Of course…Naruto would _never_ ask something like that of her.

He was probably offering to send money to bribe the company that was hunting for her. That might get that particular company off her back, a slave without a master or a sponsoring company was just free for the taking. Sasame would be free to move about for some time, but soon, freelance slave hunters, often missing ninjas, would come after her for profit. "Just because you keep telling me that I'm free does not make me free," She looked at him hopefully in a joking manner, "unless you're suggesting that you'll be my master."

As it was now, she couldn't enter any of the capital cities or the hidden villages because they would instantly discover her status. If Naruto claimed her as his servant, then she would actually become freer than she was now.

Sasame had never asked, however, because she knew Naruto would refuse to indulge in the slave system even if meant making her happier. And she couldn't ask him to spend that much money to purchase her even if he was her close friend.

So she constantly lived in fear that ninjas would be sent after her and that she would be caught.

"That's exactly what I'm offering."

Her jaw dropped in shock. "Wh…what? You are? What changed?!"

Sasame was a sensor and knew that the person in front of her was Naruto, so it wasn't someone trying to trick her, but she was confused as to why he would do something so out of character. The Naruto she knew would never agree to have slaves.

"I'm probably getting married in a few weeks. It's a political marriage. That's why my kids are being suspicious. They've heard rumors going around this morning. They think, and ironically, they're actually right, that it's with a girl they saw with me a week ago. But they're following me around to make sure."

She felt as if she had been slapped in the face. What he had just told her wasn't relevant to her status as a slave, but it was still just as shocking. And in some ways it was even more disappointing. Ever since Naruto had found her two years ago, she had kept up a girlish hope that he would marry her. She knew it wasn't possible, but she still…on _rare_ occasions…fantasized about Naruto razing an entire village for her and declaring to the world that she was his.

Sasame also knew he had been dating his pink-haired teammate for some time, but despite being grateful to the girl for helping her find her brother Arashi all those years ago, Sasame knew the girl didn't truly love Naruto. Sakura did not deserve someone like Naruto. Sasame felt that even _she_herself had more of a right to claim Naruto than Sakura did.

Sasame at least genuinely cared about Naruto in a romantic manner. It was clear to everyone but Naruto that Sakura did not.

And so, it was good that Naruto had moved on. Sasame had been worried about Naruto during the entire time that Naruto and Sakura were dating.

But…to think that he was getting married so soon after the incident with Sakura was stunning.

"And?" Sasame tried not to stammer. She didn't want to burden Naruto with the knowledge that she had feelings for him. He did not need more emotional angst in his life. "What does that have to do with you taking me on as your servant?"

The blonde sighed. "Well it's not completely certain yet and it's been hushed up a bit in Konoha because she hasn't had a chance to accept. So my offer is contingent on that. Sort of. Even if she refuses, I would still have to get married to another girl and the offer would once again be open to you. Anyway, the girl I'm about to be engaged to is a noble so she's not likely to be able to do things on her own. She acts tough, but from what I know, she really can't take care of herself. You, on the other hand, know how to do everything so I was wondering if you take care of her and also act as a guard."

The orange-haired girl internally sighed. Of course. Now everything made sense. Naruto was always worrying about others. It would be very much like him to worry about his future wife, even if he didn't love her.

"So you want me to play big sister to this little girl of yours?"

"Well, it's an offer," he said, while frowning, "I've already decided to go purchase," Naruto made an expression as if the word left a bad taste in his mouth, "some servants for her, but I figured it might be best to ask you first since you're on the run and you'd probably prefer me as your master than anyone else." He looked both sad and resigned at the idea. "You're also near her in age. She's a bit more than four years younger than I am so you're only about three years older than her. It's my hope that the two of you can get along. You don't have many close friends because of your situation and Hanabi gets lonely at times because she's considered untouchable in Konoha."

Hanabi. The girl's name was Hanabi. It would be the name of the person who would unintentionally torture Sasame every day with her mere existence. Unless…

"Just wondering, Naruto," she asked carefully, "but are you going to take concubines?"

If he did, then this would be a no-brainer for her. She would instantly jump at the chance to be with the one man who has cared for her. Even if she would be little more than a glorified sex slave for him. A glorified sex slave for Naruto would be treated better than most queens.

"No, I don't think so," Naruto shook his head, "I know I'm expected to, considering that I'm trying to revive my clan. But I want to minimize loveless relationships as much as possible. I'll already be in a loveless marriage with Hanabi and it'll already be hard enough to properly love her. Adding more women to the mix would only make things more complicated and would hurt Hanabi if I ended up loving someone else. And that's not even considering the moral issues with taking concubines. It just isn't…right." Naruto gave her a pointed look. "Why? Does it matter either way?"

It did matter but she couldn't let him know that.

She was disappointed, but given what she knew about Naruto's moral code, it had been expected that he would be monogamous. Naruto would not even consider concubines unless this Hanabi girl agreed to share. Even then, it would be an uphill battle.

However, despite the somewhat disappointing offer, being closer to Naruto was something she wasn't going to give up. She would accept his friendship and accept the ironic freedom that being his servant would bring to her while becoming best friends with the wife of the person she loved. It was a shame that she would never be the recipient of Naruto's affections, but Sasame had known that she had no chance from the very first day.

In the end, she was just a slave. She wasn't a human; she was just _property_.

"Okay. I'll be your servant. Hm…Master Naruto. Haha. It looks like I finally get to call you that."

Sasame smiled, knowing that Naruto missed the dual meaning of that statement. Well, it wouldn't be entirely accurate to say that. She was sure Naruto knew _of_ the dual meaning, but he didn't know that she desperately wanted to call him "Master" in _that_ specific context.

Naruto groaned and rubbed the back of his head. "I have a feeling that you're going to be enjoying this a lot more than I will."

Her smile became slightly sad. She both would and wouldn't. But she owed it to him to never let him find out why.

"Indeed, _Master_."

That last word left a bittersweet taste in her mouth.

* * *

AN: More reviews please, especially those that comment on writing style or character development. They really do help. Or if enough people demand it, some changes to how future chapters are written. Like if people want a certain character to appear more often, I'll try to accommodate. It won't change the storyline too much unfortunately. For example, requests to change the pairing will not be granted. I understand that many of you are Naruto x Hinata fans, and in some ways, so am I, but unfortunately, that's not part of this story. The kind and sweet Hinata that everyone knows and loves just wasn't suited for the female lead of this story. I needed a girl sort of like _Sakura_—prideful but insecure—but without all the baggage that she comes with.

Someone asked…so I'll address it. There are two very specific reasons why I am not using Naruto's POV as much as I should for a Naruto story. First, much of the introduction arc was building Hanabi's character up, which I had to do since she's been given less than five minutes of screen-time. Second, as you already noticed, Naruto is not what he appears to be. Therefore, I _cannot_ write from his POV too much if I want to hide certain information that only Naruto knows from my readers. Some of you may have figured out what the certain information is. I'm not going to confirm or deny anything.

The scenes written from Naruto's POV will appear from time to time but will increase quite a bit after Chapter 20. You'll just have wait until then. For now, you'll have to look at Naruto from the eyes of everyone else. Please be understanding. I'll try to make it as entertaining as possible without his POV.


	8. Engagement - 15 years' worth of chances

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. This is fanfiction, after all.

* * *

**Hokage's Office, Konoha – March 18, AK22**

"That's the third squad this month. This is more than just a freak accident."

Shikamaru nodded in agreement. "It would be one thing if some members of the squad were coming back, but complete squads disappearing without a trace? There's something going on here."

"From a strategic standpoint, losing eleven chuunin and one special jounin isn't that big of a deal, considering we just had a hundred genin graduates enter the forces. Naruto even projects that his 'cute little students' will be able to challenge high C-ranks by the end of the year although I'm not sure if he's just spouting nonsense like usual. Naruto already pitted his students against some of the other genin squads and his wiped the floor with all of them."

"That little copycat," Kakashi muttered. "That's what I used to call them."

"Let's not get sidetracked here," Shikamaru lightly scolded. "The point is that we can easily replace those we lost with new blood."

"Yes, I get it," the Hokage waved a hand casually in the air to show that he understood. "I read the reports on his team and what they are capable of. If I knew that Naruto would be _this_ talented at teaching, I would I have made him teach students much earlier. When I read about the training methods he came up with, it made me wonder if he's had students before." He frowned. "I still don't like the fact that he continually makes them participate in minor war games without them even knowing it. Sure, the kids grow faster because they think they're being attacked on every mission they take outside the village, but I think he should at least let them know that those 'enemies' are his shadow clones."

"Says the man who took months to teach his students the tree-climbing exercise," Shikamaru muttered. "I don't think Naruto is ever going to forgive you for that one. They could have _died_ because they were so underprepared."

"Well, they all turned out strong, right? Even if one of them did end up going astray."

"No offense, but I think that has to do more with the fact that they ended up becoming apprenticed to the Sannin. Sakura was utterly useless in that first Chuunin Exam that we all took together. Her match with Ino has to rate among the most _pathetic _battles in the history of the exams. And Naruto?" Shikamaru smirked. "He won with a _fart_. That was all your teaching amounted to."

"Oh shut up," Kakashi groaned. "Give me some credit here. The last war ended because of the philosophy I passed onto Naruto, remember?"

"Okay, okay," Shikamaru relented, more to just get the argument over with. "You're an amazing teacher. Happy, now?"

"Yup!" The Hokage gave his patented eye-smile.

"Anyway, going back to the subject…technically, we were in the wrong to send those squads to spy in foreign lands. We can't complain that they were killed. But that's not the issue right now. What worries me is the pattern of these attacks. From what our intel tells us, all our squads and the other villages' squads that were killed in this manner were in the Land of Noodles. At first glance, it appears as if Akatsuki is back, considering that Mountain's Graveyard in is the country."

Shikamaru remained respectfully silent as Kakashi winced at that remark. Mountain's Graveyard was the old hideout of Akatsuki. Akatsuki was still something of a sore spot for the Hokage. Not that he blamed the Hokage. Shikamaru figured he too would be permanently traumatized in the hypothetical case where he unintentionally killed Ino and Chouji consequently became the mastermind behind an entire world war. Hell, Shikamaru figured he'd be traumatized enough from killing Ino. He wouldn't say that he hadn't entertained the thought of it though; Ino was still insufferably loud and infinitely troublesome.

"But it's a bit too convincing," Kakashi murmured.

Shikamaru voiced his agreement. "It's probably someone trying to scare us into thinking that Akatsuki might be back."

"Hm…so what do you think?"

"Want the sugar-coated version? Or the real version with all my uncensored assumptions?"

Kakashi chuckled. "I think I've become an expert in processing bad news about situations over the years."

"Well, let me ask you a question. We were never really able to find out where Orochimaru disappeared to after the war, right?"

"Nope. It's he's still alive, he's probably lusting after the Sharingan, but that's not our problem anymore. The village has long come to terms with that fact that Sasuke is no longer a part of this village. Unlike Orochimaru, we have other things that we value more than the Sharingan."

"In any case, this may come as a shock, but I think Orochimaru is back as the head of Oto."

"Wait, what?! Don't you think you're grasping at straws now?" the Sixth asked incredulously. "Oto's been gone for over six years. It was dead _before_ the last war. Even the Land of Rice Fields changed its name back to Land of Rice Fields from the Land of Sound."

Shikamaru groaned. It was going to be troublesome to explain.

"I looked at scouting reports. There has been an increased level of activity in the Land of Rice Fields. There have been reports of disappearances similar to the time nine years ago when Orochimaru was recruiting clans and orphans. Instead of orphans, however, we're seeing missing bandits."

"I'm listening. Go on," Kakashi looked thoughtful at that.

"Can I take this damn mask off first?" Shikamaru growled in irritation. "There's an itch on my forehead."

He ignored the sweat drop that appeared on the side of Kakashi's head and removed his mask.

"You know," Kakashi drawled out, "You're probably the most informal ANBU commander in the history of this village."

"Yeah, well, you can just go and die, _Lord Hokage_," Shikamaru said in an annoyed tone.

"Tch. I don't understand why all of my strongest ninjas are so annoying. You're a lazy bastard. Naruto's a stubborn bastard. Konohamaru's a rude bastard. Yamato's an ungrateful bastard. Sai's a clueless bastard. Gai's a strange bastard. Why must all of you be bastards? Can't any of you give me some respect?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes while scratching his forehead. The weather was slowly becoming hotter. He was going to have to see Shino come to his house to order the bugs not to suck his blood out every single night.

"Kakashi, I'm going to ignore the fact that you implied that I have no father, when I had one who died honorably in the last war, and go on. In any case, we both agree that it's not Akatsuki. I had some of my subordinates check out the Land of Noodles based on projected routes are squad took. Fortunately, the Land of Noodles has a lot of clearings so it's easy to figure out how a battle went from the damage on the ground. There were some heavily damaged areas that appeared odd."

"Odd?"

"It's hard to explain so I'll draw it for you," Shikamaru took out a pen and accepted a piece of paper from Kakashi. "Let's take the standard fire technique, the fireball jutsu. Naturally, it first travels straight, burning everything in its path and then explodes once it becomes unstable. The damage on the ground usually appears as a burnt spoon-shaped area. Likewise, exploding tags, which are commonly used, have a spherical blast, so the damage on the ground should appear roughly as a circle. The damage reports showed the expected damage, showing that there was a fight, but had some strange twists. It appears as if chucks are out from the spoon and circular damage patterns."

"So you're saying the ground was not damaged at all in these areas. Instead of a spoon, the damage appears more like a two-pronged pitchfork. And instead of a circle, it appears like a horseshoe" Shikamaru nodded as Kakashi pointed at certain spots on the impromptu map. "I'm still not getting it. How is that significant?"

"Does that make sense?" Shikamaru pressed his point. "Even the strongest ninjas use clones and substitutions in battle. This just looks like someone stood in the middle of a blast radius and took the blow without suffering any damage at all."

"But that could just be a strong ninja using chakra as a shield. Wrapping chakra around your body in a dense form to ward off attack is incredibly wasteful so only Naruto regularly uses it as a battle strategy, but it's not too much of a stretch to think that other high level ninjas use it as intimidation techniques."

"I considered that as well. But there were a couple earth techniques that had human sized holes. It appeared as if someone just charged right through them. That's not normal at all. All of this points to human and chakra experimentation."

"Hm…I still say you're grasping at straws—"

"Team Hanabi is here," Shizune's voice came from beyond the door.

Shikamaru nodded at Kakashi and put on his mask again. He hated the damn thing, but it wouldn't be good if people found out that he was the ANBU commander. As far as people knew, Shikamaru was your typical jounin. _Dragon_, however, was one of the strongest of the elites in Konoha.

"Shizune, let them in."

Shikamaru watched as Hanabi, Lee, and Tenten walked in. None of them looked injured in the least, but had grim looks on their faces. This wouldn't be a problem with Hanabi, who always was a bit serious, but a stoic Lee meant extremely bad news.

Hanabi stepped forward. "We came as fast as we could. We have urgent news, Lord Hokage."

"Urgent? But if urgent, why are you over two days late?"

"Yes. Our original mission was a success and we were returning home when we were attacked by a ninja with a rather unusual ability. This ninja took down Chuunin Io in one hit before any of could react. We managed to survive, but we had to spend a few days…recovering…"

There was a slight pause. Losing a subordinate was never easy for a team leader, especially one as young as Hanabi. She wasn't even eighteen yet. The extra time must have been spent on securing the body properly and recovering from injuries and chakra exhaustion.

"What is this unusual ability? I'm assuming that's why this news is urgent."

Hanabi nodded. "Chakra nullification."

That made something click in Shikamaru's head. If someone immune to the effects of chakra stood in the middle of a blast…

"Jounin Hyuuga," Shikamaru stepped forward, motioning to the Kakashi to excuse his boldness. "Was this a full-body ability?"

The girl frowned. "It was. How did you know, Commander? Have you encountered it before?"

Shikamaru was aware that Kakashi was giving him a sharp look. "Dragon, before you get ahead of yourself, I should inform you that Team Hanabi went to the Land of Hot Water and not Land of Noodles."

Shikamaru nodded as he turned to look at Hanabi again. He knew, but this sounded too strange to be pure coincidence. "We have had some evidence of some unusual abilities lately. Can you be more specific?"

"It was exactly that. Chakra nullification. Any chakra that came into contact with the enemy simply dispersed. Unlike some of the anti-chakra armors that have come that that block chakra, this ability simply made chakra fade away. Also unlike the anti-chakra armors, this ability protected against even taijutsu and explosive tags."

"What was the source of the technique?" Kakashi inquired.

"Source?"

"I'm assuming that it wasn't a genjutsu since you would have been able to detect the disturbed chakra flow within your own body even if you were ensnared in one. So what was it? Fuinjutsu or ninjutsu?"

"We're fairly certain that it was fuinjutsu. Our enemies were marked with strange seals."

"Did you manage to gather any intel about where they were from?"

Lee decided to step in. "I am not sure how much of this will help, but we learned that the enemy's leader was named Kabuto. If my memory serves me correctly, he was one of the instigators of the last war."

"Dragon, I suppose your guess was close enough. I'll buy you dinner," Kakashi said in a clipped tone before addressing Team Hanabi again. "Oto ninja?"

Hanabi shook her head. "Unconfirmed. We managed to kill the first one before the rest of his squad came. We were about to fight when we were um…when we were interrupted."

Shikamaru did not miss how the three of them suddenly looked uncomfortable.

Lee stepped forward. "We were intercepted by an unidentified S-rank opponent who was wearing a black mask, robe, and cloak. He appeared to be familiar with Kabuto and mercilessly decimated the enemy with a single fire technique. Captain Hanabi estimates that the technique consumed more chakra than what she has in her entire chakra reserves."

"Her entire _reserves_?" Kakashi gaped in shock. "You're not talking about _capacity_, are you?"

Hanabi shook her head.

Shikamaru was just as shocked. It would have been more believable if Lee had talked about chakra capacity, which was the maximum amount of chakra able to be used at any given time. Even the most advanced techniques rarely required more than half an elite's capacity. Any techniques that required more were too harsh on the body. Chakra reserves, however, meant the total amount of chakra in the entire body. Hanabi was an elite with very large reserves. To think that someone had the _chakra capacity_ at least as equivalent to Hanabi's _chakra reserves_ was frightening. Even among S-ranks, such raw power was rare.

"I'm not sure if even Naruto would be able to pull that off. That's an incredible amount of chakra to be throwing around."

"Unfortunately, that was the not most unyouthful aspect of this situation. I opened four of the Inner Gates and he still managed to outflank me and knock me out in less than three seconds. I had assumed that it was a space-time ninjutsu as he had demonstrated that ability before, but Captain Hanabi managed to see him actually moving even if she couldn't keep up."

Lost in the explanation was Tenten's role in the battle. Tenten was also being uncharacteristically quiet. Shikamaru figured that they were trying to spare Tenten from being humiliated in front of the Hokage. Kakashi probably didn't miss it either, but must have chosen to remain quiet about it.

Kakashi stared at them with his lone eye for a good minute. "How the hell are you all alive?"

"He…he let us go," Hanabi murmured softly. "He used genjutsu to knock Special Jounin Lee out. After that, I tried attacking him but he let me go, saying something about how he liked the look in my eyes."

Shikamaru froze for a second before turning and meeting Kakashi's gaze. There were only two people they could think of who were familiar with Kabuto and would purposely go out of their way to say something like that. And only one used powerful fire techniques.

"Say…did you manage to see the color of his eyes?" Kakashi asked in a nonchalant voice unsuited for the tension in the room.

"Red."

Both Shikamaru and Kakashi swore.

* * *

**Hyuuga Compound, Konoha – March 18, AK 22**

Hanabi wondered what she would hear from the Hyuuga elders as she changed into her traditional Hyuuga attire. She had been summoned to the meeting hall for a last-minute meeting.

Hanabi frowned. Normally, the civilians would give her a short bow or look of respect. She was known by almost the entire village and it was no secret that she was the favored choice to be the clan head. But this time, instead of respect, as she passed by the villages, she felt excitement and even jealousy among the civilians. It was almost as if she was a celebrity.

She looked around her as she walked to the clan's meeting hall and noticed something similar among the clan members. People were pointing at her and whispering. She resisted the temptation from using her Byakugan to read their lips and kept walking towards the meeting hall. After all, she would get her answers soon.

Hanabi stepped into hall and saw all three elders of the Main House as well as the leader and grand elder of the Main House, her father and grandfather. She also saw the representatives from the different families in the Branch House. Her eyes roamed the room until they landed on one particular Main House member in the room.

Hinata was in tears. Hanabi kept her stoic look as demanded by decorum, but wondered what could have made her older sister upset enough to cry.

"Hanabi Hyuuga," her father said in a firm and formal tone. "Come forth."

Her instinct had been right. This meeting was about her. Her first thought was that she was about to be appointed as the Crown Princess of the Hyuuga clan, but she immediately discarded that thought. It was still a week before her eighteenth birthday and the Hyuuga never appointed a second-born to the position of clan head without a challenge match with the first-born. It was far too soon for the clan to have heard about her loss to the black-cloaked man in the Land of Hot Water. And that information was probably going to be classified. Then what was this meeting about?

"The clan has decided on a political marriage for you."

Even eighteen years of Hyuuga training couldn't stop her eyes from widening in astonishment. Already? Before she even reached adulthood? Why were they marrying her off this quickly? A quick second passed before everything started to come together. The gossip in town. Hinata's tears.

Hanabi wasn't one to curse, even in her own mind but…

_Oh mother…!_

Even while knowing the answer, in a calm voice that didn't betray how she felt, she asked her question. "With whom?"

Her father's only reaction was to nod at a Branch House member who was the secretary for the clan.

"The Hyuuga clan has both proposed and have received acceptance that Lady Hanabi Hyuuga will be given in marriage to Lord Naruto Uzumaki."

* * *

**Hyuuga Meeting Hall, Konoha – March 18, AK 22**

"The Hyuuga clan has both proposed and have received acceptance that Lady Hanabi Hyuuga will be given in marriage to Lord Naruto Uzumaki."

Hinata fought back her tears as best as she could so she wouldn't shame her father, but that did nothing to stop the tight, ripping sensation she felt in her chest. She thought she saw a look of sympathy on her father's face as their eyes met, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. Hinata figured that her own mind was playing tricks on her. Someone like her father would never sympathize with her.

She didn't know where to start. She had heard rumors about how the council meeting went, but precise details were not and probably will never be known by the general public. From what she had heard, however, she was able to draw her own conclusions. At first, her father felt that she was worthless as an heiress and wanted to marry her off. Because of the little bit of mercy he had, he had tried to marry her off to the boy she loved for years, but had been rebuffed by the said boy. In order to save face and maintain an alliance with the future Hokage, he was forced to offer his favored choice for heiress to Naruto.

A fresh wave of tears streamed down her face.

That same boy she adored had rejected her for a girl he didn't even know. That thought crushed Hinata's heart.

It didn't matter that she managed to claw her way to become a jounin. It didn't matter that she was finally respected among the public for her skills rather than heritage. The two people she wanted approval from—Naruto and her father—both had rejected her for the same person. Hanabi.

What was it about her sister that made her so appealing? Hinata knew that she was prettier, kinder, softer, and more feminine than Hanabi could ever hope to be. So then why? Were those traits just not acceptable to strong people like her father and Naruto? Did she have to become as cold and uncaring as Neji once was to gain any measure of love from those she loved?

Naruto was supposed to be different. He was supposed to care about her. Hinata could even sense millions of people in _other worlds_ rooting for her to end up with Naruto and millions more writing about the thousands of possible ways that she and Naruto would become a couple.

But it just didn't happen.

This didn't make any sense.

"Hanabi," Hinata heard her father speak. "Lord Uzumaki is already well-respected by the villagers. As you already know, he was one of the few candidates for the seat of the Hokage the last time around and it was only his age that prevented him from taking the seat. Eventually, given that the Sixth is notoriously famous for declaring his intent to require as soon as possible, Uzumaki will become Hokage. Perhaps even in the next year."

"Yes, father," Hanabi murmured with her head down reverently. "I understand that it is expected of me as a Hyuuga to lead the clan to new heights. It would be beneficial for the clan should the wife of the Hokage be a Hyuuga."

"Indeed," her grandfather, the Grand Elder, chose to enter the conversation. "The Hyuuga are already known as the strongest in the village. We are, however, but only one of the twelve noble clans. Lord Uzumaki is the head of his own clan and will have the power of the Hokage soon. It would indeed be beneficial for not just us but for Uzumaki as well for this marriage to happen. He would finally gain the political support for his bid to become Hokage and we of the Hyuuga will gain a direct connection to the seat of the Hokage. Unfortunately, while you must give up your status as the Crown Princess of the Hyuuga clan, you will be honored amongst the Hyuuga for ages to come."

Still aother wave of fresh tears rolled down her face. Hinata did not miss the veiled insult towards her. Her grandfather had just announced in public that Hanabi had been the true heiress and it was only by circumstance that Hanabi would not receive the position.

"There is, however, one issue," her father said with a frown. "Lord Uzumaki placed a stipulation in the marriage contract that would nullify this agreement if you had any objections to this marriage. He is a Sage and would be able to detect any falsities on our part."

"Lord Uzumaki, for all his strengths, is too compassionate and idealistic," her grandfather said distastefully. "But in this case, there is little we can do about that. If you wish to remain as a Hyuuga, it is within your right to do so."

"If you have other reasons," Hinata noticed her father sending a quick look in her direction, "for which you wish to reject this contract, you may do so. This is not something we can force you to do. Do not misunderstand. You cannot force yourself to do this. The contract is imbued with nature chakra that has been set to determine whether you are being honest with yourself. If you feel you must do your best for the clan, you may come place your place your hand on this contract. That is all we demand of you. Regardless of the results, you will not be punished."

Hinata had felt uneasy when Hanabi had approached her to talk about Naruto a while back, but she still felt a sliver of hope at her father's statement.

Hanabi was always talking about being free of the clan. Hanabi wanted to be her own person, to do the things she wanted, to find the person she loved. Surely Hanabi wouldn't want to be thrown in a loveless marriage. Hinata knew that while Hanabi had no real desire to be the Hyuuga clan head, Hanabi wouldn't appreciate having a life choice taken away from her by the clan either. Hinata met Hanabi's gaze and willed with all her heart so that Hanabi would understand. Naruto was _hers_, not Hanabi's. While their relationship wasn't as strong as other siblings', there was no way that Hanabi would knowingly steal her guy. Right?

"Father. Grand Elder. Elders of the Hyuuga clan. Representatives of the Branch House." Hanabi still maintain the gaze as she walked towards the contract and placed her hand on it. There was a flicker of determination in Hanabi's eyes. Hinata felt that tight twisting in her chest again. At that moment, Hinata _knew_.

Hanabi was in love with Naruto.

* * *

**Hyuuga Meeting Hall, Konoha – March 18, AK 22**

"Hanabi, Lord Uzumaki is already well-respected by the villagers. As you already know, he was one of the four candidates to become the Sixth and it was only his age that held him back from taking the seat. Eventually, he will become the Hokage."

"Yes, father," Hanabi murmured in a quiet tone. "I understand that it is expected of me as a Hyuuga to lead the clan to new heights. It would be beneficial for the clan should the wife of the Hokage be a Hyuuga."

Hanabi's mind was in a whirl. Based on the announcement, it seemed that the Hyuuga proposed first. Why was she offered instead of Hinata? After all, Hinata _loved_ the boy and it was common knowledge that the grand elder did not find Hinata suitable as the heiress. Wouldn't it have made sense to offer Hinata in marriage? That would have taken care of both problems.

Hanabi paused for a second, not really listening to the Grand Elder's explaining the condition that Uzumaki placed on the political marriage.

"If you have other reasons that you wish to reject this contract, you may do so. This is not something we can force you to do. Do not misunderstand either. You cannot force yourself to do this. The contract is imbued with nature chakra that has been set to determine whether you are being honest with yourself. If you feel you must do your best for the clan, you may come place your place your hand on this contract. Regardless of the results, you will not be punished."

Hanabi did not miss the look that her father gave to Hinata. That confirmed it. Her father must have initially offered Hinata to Uzumaki. And Uzumaki rejected the offer. The only question was why?

She and Uzumaki barely knew each other so there was little chance that he loved her. Hanabi wasn't arrogant enough to claim that she was the prettiest woman all of Konoha. For one, even Hanabi had to admit that Hinata put her to shame in the looks department. So, that meant that the Toad Sage had a specific reason for choosing Hanabi. Most people probably thought that Uzumaki wanted strong heirs and thus chose the strongest woman in the Hyuuga clan. His friends might search underneath the obvious reason and come to the conclusion that he was purposefully sacrificing himself to set Hinata to become the uncontested heir of the Hyuuga clan. But Hanabi had a feeling that that wasn't the real reason.

She was suddenly reminded of what she was told on her mission.

_Flashback_

"_Kill you, was it?_ _I like the look in your eyes. It would be a waste if you died."_

_End Flashback_

She remembered cursing her own weakness, defiance at her fate, and a surging desire from freedom. The cloaked man with the mask had seen all that and more. The Sage was also S-ranked. Perhaps he too had seen that fire in her soul as well.

Hanabi shook her head lightly. It really didn't matter. She could eventually get the answers from him. Her own feelings were more important at this time. She leveled a gaze at her older sister. Hinata was clearly pleading with her eyes.

Hanabi might have snorted if she weren't a Hyuuga. Hanabi wondered if Hinata even knew the implications. Hinata had always wanted to make their father proud and become a strong clan leader. Hanabi accepting this contract would guarantee that. Hinata was willing to jeopardize her own future for the sake of her love. How foolish.

Still, Hanabi wished there was something she could do for her sister.

Because deep down inside, Hanabi knew that she _wanted_ this marriage with the Sage.

Her mind wandered to the times she met the Toad Sage in the training ground. She still remembered the feeling his aura.

There was power. Her mind flashed to her fight, if it could be called that, with the cloaked man. She never wanted to feel that helpless and trapped again. As she was still weak on her own, she wanted to attach herself to someone with that power. Why should she deny herself the opportunity when it was given to her on a silver platter?

And from her own personal experiences with him, he wasn't at horrible on the eyes and knew that he would do his best to be the best possible husband. He had held her extremely gently when he was drying her off. Hanabi wouldn't…mind being held in that manner every day of her life.

While he appeared to be carefree, he could be respectful and compassionate when he chose to be. Also, marrying out of the Hyuuga clan to some of Uzumaki's caliber would bring her one step closer towards finally being free.

She internally laughed at her train of thought. She sounded like a preteen girl with a crush. Perhaps she and Hinata weren't so different after all. Somehow they both got involved with the same man.

But while Hinata saw his compassion and determination, Hanabi saw something deeper inside of him. Freedom.

_I'm terribly sorry, sister. But you've had fifteen years' worth of opportunities. And I…I am not as kind and unselfish as you are._

"Father. Grand Elder. Elders of the Hyuuga clan. Representatives of the Branch House." Hanabi laid her hand on the contract and felt it absorbing a small amount of her chakra. "I, Hanabi Hyuuga, hereby accept this marriage to become the matriarch of the Uzumaki clan."

Instantly, she saw the Uzumaki clan symbol appear on the now glowing contract. Before she could move, however, a large sealing array appeared below her.

_Fuinjutsu?_ She thought. She found herself unable to move a muscle. _I knew that Uzumaki was powerful, but there was no sign that he knew an esoteric art like the sealing arts. But I suppose it should not be a surprise considering that Lord Jiraiya was his master._

"Hiashi! What is this?" Hanabi heard one of elders shout out as sealing symbols began climbing up her legs. "That Uzumaki would dare to hurt the heiress of the Hyuuga clan for rejecting this political marriage in her heart!"

"Father! Do not be rash. Ko! You are one of our sealing elites. What is this?" her father demanded as he turned on his Byakugan. Her father was clearly trying to see if her chakra was being disturbed.

"Lord Hiashi, I am not certain," came the cautious reply from the Main House sealing elite who also had his Byakugan activated. "It appears to be a cross between a blood seal and a branding seal similar to our own cage bird seal. But I know for certain that Lady Hanabi is in no danger."

Her father then motioned everyone to back down and observe.

Hanabi felt a warm sensation on her forehead and heard gasps throughout the room.

She turned her own Byakugan to check her own forehead and saw the reason why.

On her forehead was the Uzumaki clan crest nested in another unknown seal. The Uzumaki crest, however, made it clear to everyone that they were now looking at the matriarch of the Uzumaki clan. She turned her Byakugan off as both the seal on her forehead and on the ground disappeared.

"I believe that this shows that," Hanabi stated in a soft but firm tone, "within two weeks, which was the time agreed upon by the two clans according to the contract, I will no longer be Hanabi Hyuuga."

She didn't even bother hiding her small but victorious smile.

She no longer had to fear being put in a cage.

She was free.

* * *

**Secret Place, Konoha – March 18, AK22**

"It is done. Uzumaki has agreed to marry Hanabi, the second princess of our clan, and she has agreed to marry him. It will formally be announced tomorrow."

Sakuma couldn't contain his glee as he talked with a chakra projection of the Raikage. Uzumaki choosing the stronger girl had been a rather interesting twist, but he supposed even Uzumaki recognized weakness. If Sakuma thought about it, it made perfect sense. Not even an idiot like the boy would want to touch Hinata. Uzumaki was still S-ranked and valued strength. Strength that the first heiress didn't have. Sakuma felt his respect for the damn boy go up just a bit. A _tiny_ bit.

He had been worried when he first heard of the damn seal on the marriage contract. Uzumaki's idealism would have ruined everything, but fortunately, it seemed like the younger princess also had genuine feelings for the brat.

The stars were finally aligning his way.

Still, Sakuma snorted at the thought. It must be some sort of genetic flaw that led both of the Hyuuga princesses lusting after the same man.

"It seems that it didn't go completely to your plan. I'm not entirely pleased that we'll be ending up with the weaker of the two, but we're still getting the Byakugan, I suppose," Ē grunted.

Sakuma frowned. "The Byakugan was what was promised, not a specific person. I believe I can assume that you will follow through with the rest of our plan?"

The projection nodded. "We'll need details on their honeymoon. I personally am not afraid of Uzumaki, but Bee would be the only one in our village who would be able to stand a chance against him besides me. And I will not be risking our greatest asset and my own brother on such a high risk operation."

"Traditionally, clan heads that are also active ninjas are given two to three months of unrestricted vacation time. Given Uzumaki's attempts at trying to show himself as patriotic and loyal," Sakuma spat out the word, "he will no doubt cut his honeymoon short. I will get back to you with more details on that as soon as I find out. The wedding date has already been set for the twenty-seventh of this month. The date was planned so that the Hyuuga would not have to deal with her coming of age ceremony and her rise to become the official heiress."

"We will begin planning now. I have already picked a squad to send. In the future, I will contact you through my right-hand man. Darui will be the leader of the squad I send."

Sakuma smirked and didn't really pay attention as a man with a dull face introduced himself. Soon, everything will become his. That arrogant Hiashi wouldn't know what hit him.

* * *

**Konoha Streets, Konoha – March 18, AK22**

Hanabi figured that it was destiny or something of the sort that led her to run into Uzumaki. She had been walking alone at night in the empty marketplace to clear her mind and sort out her feelings from everything that had happened in the last week. She had lost a subordinate, been terrified out of her mind, and then suddenly found herself married.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she barely noticed her fiancé head into one of the buildings ahead of her. Curiosity aroused, she had turned on her Byakugan and saw how he had handed out toys to the different children there and donated a large sum of the money to the caretakers there.

She couldn't help but have a small smile on her face. She was getting married to a good man.

"Hey there little firecracker. What's up?" He said as he came out.

"Lord Uzumaki."

The Sage raised an eyebrow. "Nope. Just call me lord. Or if you want…master."

She looked at him in confusion. "Huh?"

"If you're not going to call me Naruto, then call me 'Master.' If you're going to call me 'Lord,' then at least leave the Uzumaki part out of it."

She blinked. "Why?"

"Because saying Uzumaki is a mouthful and it's going to be hard for you to be screaming that on our wedding night," the Toad Sage smirked. "Oh and there's the fact that hearing a girl moan 'Master' in bed is a turn-on for any guy."

Her warm feelings for him at seeing him be gentle with the children disappeared rapidly and she had to suppress the urge to scream at the Sage. He had tried something similar the first time they talked and then completely twisted it around to make _her_ appear as the one with the dirty mind. She narrowed her eyes. If that was how he was going to play, then she would play along for now.

"Very well, _Master_. Did you make Lady Haruno do this for you as well?" she said viciously, not particularly caring that what she said was probably hurtful.

"Oooooh," Her "lord" winced. "Low blow. Doubly so. Sakura's dead and well, she would have smashed every bone if my body if I asked that of her. Including a certain part of my anatomy."

"Well, Master, I'm not experienced by any means," she put on an innocent smile that even Hinata would have been hard-pressed to match, "but I am sure I can be quite inventive with my Gentle Fist."

She smirked as he turned pale at that the threat. "Wow, wow, wow!" Uzumaki raised his hands up, "I'm not going to let your hands get down anywhere near _there_! I happen to like my family jewels being intact."

"Why not?" She asked in a sweet voice. "I only aim to please my lord. Does Master not like women with a soft touch?"

The Toad Sage seemed to consider that for a second. Hanabi rolled her eyes as her future husband pretended to do a cost-benefit analysis of letting her "touch" him.

"Okay, okay," he said in defeat. "You win. I lose. You're better at this game than I thought. You're quite the fast learner."

She smirked. "Did you really think I would be caught off guard after your trickery the last time we talked? You made me out to be some kind of pervert!"

"Well, yeah," he replied honestly. "It's something I learned from my master. People thought he was a pervert, and well, he was, but he was also a quite insightful. Subtle sexual innuendos make women raise their emotional guards more often than not while blatantly crude statements make them lose their calm. Girls who have lost their calm are quite easy to manipulate or impress later on."

Hanabi frowned at her fiancé. "So you play this game with every girl you run into? To manipulate or impress them?"

"Why?" he teased. "Getting jealous already?"

"Tch," she turned her head to the side with an undignified pout. She had to admit though. The silly banter had been quite entertaining.

The Sage laughed at that. "Don't worry. I'll only have eyes for you, my little firecracker." He became a bit more serious. "I promise."

Hanabi shied away from him to hide her blush even though she knew he would have seen it instantly. "Thanks, um…N…Na…Naruto."

It was strange to be familiar with someone she barely knew. But if she thought about it, she felt closer to him than almost anyone else in her life already. Maybe Lord Jiraiya did have a point. Naruto's teasing had continued to hammer away at all the emotional walls she set up until they broke.

The _jerk_. He probably knew the effect he was having on her.

"There," he said with a bright smile, "Now that wasn't so hard, was it?"

Her only response was a glare. Yup. He definitely knew.

Hanabi's eyes softened when she saw him look back at the orphanage that he had just come out of.

"You're surprisingly gentle you know."

It was true. Her fiancé had held some of the youngest children while laughing with them. He had given many of the older ones advice and words of encouragement.

I'm not sure if it's compassion," Uzumaki said sadly. "It's probably empathy more than anything. Or perhaps it's projection. I see myself in those kids, you know. I'm just doing what I wish someone would have done for me."

Hanabi didn't know what to say to that. She had heard stories about how hard his childhood was, but she was too young to remember much of how the villagers had treated him.

"I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "It's not for you to be sorry about. That's just the way life works sometimes. Some people get dealt good cards while others do not. What matters is how we play those cards." She was briefly reminded of his words to her when she had been late in her meeting with him. She hadn't known the words had a much deeper meaning then.

"I see…" she said softly. It seemed that everything about Naruto was like that. He gave the appearance of being shallow, but there was a far greater depth to his mind and heart.

"Anyway, I suppose it's safe to say that you've heard the news."

She noted the shift in tone. It was clear that he didn't want to think too much on the subject. She nodded as she started walk. "Father told me the news as soon as I returned from my mission."

Naruto nodded as he began to walk with her. "I figured. Your father hid it well but he seemed rather excited. I would have been shocked if he hadn't told you already. In the end, he valued his duties as clan head over those as a father."

She gave him an inquisitive look. "What do you mean?"

"He initially offered Hinata's hand in marriage, so I asked him whether he was motivated as a clan head or as a father. He claimed that it was both. So I requested you to see what he would do. Would he be a father and try to convince me to marry Hinata? Or would he be a clan head and readily accept you so that a Hyuuga becomes the wife of the future Hokage? I wanted a glimpse into the soul of the man named Hiashi Hyuuga."

"I see." Hanabi frowned. Did that mean that Naruto was marrying her to prove a point?

"That thought in your head. Get rid of it right now. Hanabi, remember, I could have asked for any girl in the entire village. I picked you out of the thousands of girls in the village. Heck, I could have had my pick out of the hundreds of thousands of girls throughout the Elemental Nations. But I chose _you_. Publicly shaming your father and proving a point was simply a bonus."

She felt her flush red again and felt the glow in her heart that Hinata always said she felt whenever Naruto acknowledged her. The Toad Sage just had a way with words.

She didn't fully love him just yet—at least she didn't think so—but she decided to take the initiative and grab hold of his hand. Hanabi figured that they had to start their relationship somewhere. It might as well be now.

Naruto stopped to give her a curious look but decided not to say anything and resumed walking.

Hanabi continued the conversation. "I doubt he was upset at all. His daughter is betrothed to someone who is arguably the most powerful person in the Elemental Countries, one who will become Hokage. It would be strange if he were not pleased. For him, a slight embarrassment in public is a small price to pay for all he has to gain."

"I want to ask you something. Why?" Naruto had seemingly ignored her remark but Hanabi knew better. She still had quite a lot to learn about the Toad Sage, but she knew him well enough by now to know what he meant.

"I imagine my sister must be very upset with me right now." Naruto remained quiet so she continued. "But she will become the undisputed heiress of the Hyuuga clan. My eighteenth birthday is coming up in a week and the elders would have forced us to a challenge match. Whatever the results, it would have been hard on both of us. Neither of us wants to be sealed or have the other sealed. I, however, did not want to be clan head as much as she did. That is something she desired from the bottom of her heart. By agreeing to marry you, I removed an obstacle that was stopping her from becoming the clan head while finding a solution for myself not to be sealed."

Naruto chuckled as he started to swing their hands lightly. "You can't fool me. That's the same lie I'm going to tell Kiba when he comes to hunt me down."

Hanabi gave a small smile at being caught. She wasn't surprised. Naruto had proven to her that he had far greater insight than people thought he had.

"Then perhaps you would believe me if I told you I fell in love with you."

A half-truth. She could feel herself _falling_ in love. Nothing else would explain why she was so obsessed with him.

Naruto laughed heartily at that. Hanabi could tell from the laugh that he knew exactly what she meant and that he knew she knew he knew what she meant. Hanabi did feel something for the Toad Sage. It just wasn't love yet.

For now, she was drawn to his power. It was true that she was constantly intrigued by his wisdom, insight, and unexpected intelligence and that his compassion only made him that much more desirable. But for now, she was more interested in being free from her clan and attaching herself to his strength. To be protected against the clan, against her enemies, against the world. To her, more than anything, Naruto was her armor that would give her the ability to explore the world without getting hurt. And Naruto understood her. Her constant obsession with power was the same was his constant declaration that he would become Hokage one day. Naruto called it acknowledgment. To her, it was simply freedom.

It was probably why Naruto did a favor for her and had made the contract signing as dramatic as he did with the glowing sealing array and public marking. It was his way of telling the Hyuuga that they no longer had a claim on her. It was a not-so-subtle way of saying that she was _his_.

Hanabi smiled lightly as the Toad Sage continued the metaphor to humor her. "We've only met a few times. Love at first sight?"

In a way, it was. That feeling she got from him when he was fighting Neji was probably her instinct screaming that this man was exactly what she had sought. The world saw a brashness and bravado, but she had seen greatness.

She squeezed his hand a little tighter.

"Yes, love at first sight."

* * *

**Crescent Moon Palace, Land of the Moon – March 18, AK 22**

"The answer's no. I won't fund your expenses to build an army. The Land of the Moon already has a hidden village."

"Your Majesty," Karin protested, "we can provide amazing services that your men aren't able to—"

The jolly king shook his head, "Young lady, I don't think you're in a position to tell me what my ninja are and aren't able to do. In fact, it seems like you need me more than I need you."

Sasuke decided that he had enough. The stupid king was being difficult and Sasuke figured he had to use force to get his way. That was how life worked.

For the last six years, he had observed the great villages and the different countries on the continent of the Elemental Nations. He had thought things would change. He had hoped that the covered up stories and the lies and the corruption would all be revealed and fixed. That the history of the Uchiha and Konoha's persecution and eventual massacre of the Uchiha would come to light. But none of that happened. The village leaders were too prideful or too fearful of the consequences. They preferred to cling to their pathetic positions of power and deluded the masses into thinking that there was peace in the world.

To Sasuke, that peace was no different from the Infinite Tsukuyomi that Tobi had tried to plunge the world into. After all, nearly everyone in the world was living a lie.

Sasuke mentally sighed before realizing that he was doing that quite a lot lately. The poor just wanted to eat, the wealthy just wanted to get wealthier, and the powerful just wanted to keep their power. In the end, no one really cared about the truth.

Sasuke had trained with a ferocity that even he did not have before the war. He wanted to gain enough power to unify the entire world. But it had not been enough. He knew that his rival…that Naruto…would be right behind him and would challenge his reign. Sasuke couldn't have that. But relatively recently, he had discovered a new power, a new power that would nullify all of Naruto's borrowed power from the Kyuubi. But he still needed more time. And of course, he needed cannon fodder to deal with the small fry as he personally took care of all the real threats.

"Karin," Sasuke said in a low tone. "Get back." Karin squeaked and moved behind him where Juugo was standing as well. Sasuke looked at the stubborn king. "We have offered you a force for justice, a force that would protect you and your interests as well as bringing your kingdom to new heights as a protector of good. Yet, you spit in our faces and on our goodwill. It seems that I must use force."

The king's eyes narrowed and he raised a hand. "I see. Then I do what I must as well."

Instantly a group of ninjas surrounded them. Sasuke lazily counted them off in his head.

"Karin. Juugo." he drawled.

Instantly, they tossed a dozen kunai each at the ninjas who all dodged or parried. Sasuke noticed that there were enough kunai behind the ninjas to begin his plan.

"Activate!" Juugo cried.

Instantly a green hemi-spherical barrier surrounded them all with the seals on the kunai as the base of the barrier. Sasuke activated the Gelel Stones implanted in his body to use the Gelel flux instead of chakra and merely waited as the ninjas struggled to keep their chakra levels up to deal with the sudden exhaustion they were beginning to feel.

Fools. Conscious molding of chakra would only speed up the nullification of chakra hundredfold. Sasuke walked casually up to each of the ninjas and flicked their foreheads to knock them on the ground before taking out his sword and ending their miserable lives. He normally hated unnecessary bloodshet, but he needed to show his power and intent to the silly king. He would make an exception this time. For justice.

"Weak," he turned to the king who was now wide-eyed with fear. "I believe I have proven my superiority. This is not a request. You _will_ fund our army and you _will_ obey my orders."

The shivering king nodded. "Y…yes."

"Karin," Sasuke ordered. "You and Juugo stay here to make sure this fool obeys our orders. I am going back to our base to do some more experimenting with this power. I'll send over twenty soldiers as backup. Any more than that would attract the attention of the ninja villages."

Karin nodded, as did Juugo.

Sasuke gave his wife and his most loyal friend a small smile before walking past them. He would not be stopped. The blood of the deceased cried out to him too loudly for him to stand aside and let the world run itself to the ground.

Fate even agreed with him and so generously opened his eyes to this new power. There would be no one to stop him.

The world needed a guide. It needed truth. It needed…justice.

Sasuke clenched his fists tightly.

He would be that justice.

* * *

AN: How do you like a Tosen-ized (a _Bleach_ character) version of Sasuke? Justice this. Justice that. Except ultimately, he's still just after revenge.

This is probably the last of the "fast" updates. I gave you a slightly longer chapter to apologize in advance (what do most people prefer anyway? More chapters or longer chapters?). There's a small chance that I might be gone for an entire month before another update. Huge test coming up at the end of June. It will pretty much determine how much I'll earn for the rest of my life. Haha.

But don't worry about the story just dying here. I have the chapter written out, but it just needs to be streamlined. Strangely enough, finalizing chapters tend to take longer for me than actually writing the scenes out.


	9. Engagement - Reactions and Bodily Fluids

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. This is fanfiction, after all.

* * *

**Ichiraku Ramen Stand, Konoha – March 19, AK22**

Shino tried to stop Kiba, who had found the person he was looking for.

"Kiba, you should stop this," Shino warned.

Kiba ignored him, grabbed the other person by the cuff, dragged him out onto the street, and took a huge chakra-enhanced swing.

_Wham!_

Shino shook his head lightly as Kiba took a few deep breaths to calm down. His old genin teammate was way too violent and impulsive. Shin hoped that Kiba's attitude wouldn't get him, or anyone else, killed one day.

The brown-haired boy he hit suddenly _poofed_ and reappeared as a young blond man. While Naruto almost never went out without some kind of disguise after the truth of his heritage and role in the Fourth Shinobi World War got out, Kiba had a keen nose and was able to track the village celebrity down.

"Satisfied?" Naruto asked while wiping away the small trickle of blood from his mouth.

Shino could tell that his teammate was annoyed to see that Naruto's wound had already healed and that Naruto merely had fallen to the ground instead of flying into one of the other shops.

"How dare you do that to Hinata?" Kiba growled out, ignoring the screams and shouts of all the civilians around him. It probably didn't help that they both were high profile ninjas from prominent clans and that Naruto was the village celebrity. Shino mentally sighed at the headache this would cause later.

"Hm?"

Shino observed Naruto wipe the dirt off of his back as Kiba gaped incredulously. Shino had heard rumors that Naruto was running an unreasonable amount of S-rank missions and figured that his old comrade was mentally fatigued. Even so, Shino was surprised to see that Naruto had lost a lot of the idealistic charm that had made him who he was.

Naruto merely sounded resigned.

"What do you mean 'hm'?! You bastard!"

Kiba looked ready to take another swing. The only thing preventing Naruto from getting hit was that squads of ANBU were arriving soon to see what was going on.

Not even Kiba was _that_ stupid to attack someone right in front of ANBU. That would be a direct ticket to prison for at least a night.

"Oh, you mean my engagement to Hanabi?"

Kiba growled menacingly. "You knew that Hinata loved you for years! Mom told me that Shikamaru and Hinata's father even spelled that out for you at the meeting. You can't claim that you didn't know."

Shino frowned. He hadn't known that Tsume Inuzuka was that loose with classified information. He wasn't complaining as in this instance, the leaked information benefitted him, but a loose mouth never helped the village. Technically, the information from the general assembly was classified in name only since the civilians gossiped more than Ino did, but it was a bad habit to reveal information of any sort.

"And?" There was flash of anger in Naruto's eyes. "You're telling me that I have to marry Hinata because she loves me?"

"Well, if you had to choose, you should have chosen Hinata!" Kiba grabbed Naruto's shirt and lifted him up. "That would have been the decent thing to do! It doesn't make any difference to you either way!"

Naruto didn't seem to even notice, however, and replied just as angrily. "Where was all the support and indignation when Sakura rejected me hundreds of times despite _me_ loving _her _when we were still kids? Where were the chakra-enhanced swings and threats thrown at her?"

Shino figured that Naruto had a point. In their group of friends, in the past, only Sai felt that it was unfair that Sakura kept rejecting Naruto. To the rest of them, Naruto was just being an idiot who didn't listen to what logic dictated. Even Shino had told Naruto that it didn't make…logical…sense for him to continue pursuing a girl who did not love him.

"I…"

"That's right," Naruto said angrily as he pushed Kiba back. "There was no support. Even when we became older, all of you just thought that I was being an idiot for not being able to let her go. Why doesn't the same apply for Hinata? Why were you all rooting for her to end up with me while encouraging me to get over Sakura? Was it because Hinata is sweet and soft-spoken? Or wait, let me guess…because she's a _girl_?"

"But…you just chose a random girl over someone who has genuine feelings for you! Like I said, it doesn't make a difference to you who you choose!" Kiba roared as his anger came back. "What makes it worse is that you chose someone close to Hinata. Are you trying to ruin any sense of goodwill between Hinata and Hanabi?"

Shino decided that it was time to interrupt before Kiba did something rash again. "Kiba. You are scaring the civilians. Also, Naruto could press charges for assault."

"Don't worry about that, Shino." Naruto returned to dusting himself off. "I'm not going to press charges. It's natural that Kiba would want to stick up for his old teammate. I don't think you're too happy with me either."

"Indeed."

To be frank, Shino was not too pleased to see a crushed Hinata cry her heart out for hours.

Naruto walked up to them and turned his head to expose the side he wasn't hit.

"You can hit me, too. It's only fair you get a shot after I let Kiba take his. I should treat everyone equally, instead of holding one person to different standards for whatever reason," Naruto said scathingly as Kiba looked slightly ashamed at that. "And besides, if that was the hardest hit that I was going to get, then I can afford to offer everyone to take a shot."

Shino almost smirked as Kiba twitched at the insinuation. It was Naruto's way of emasculating Kiba, a person who always had valued himself as, in his own words, a "badass."

Shino merely stared for a few seconds before pondering on what to do. Even though he had full control over his emotions, he did want to hit Naruto. But such acts might be considered emotional and unbecoming of an Aburame. A compromise then.

"Perhaps I may take you up on your offer later. But before that, I would like to know your reasons first."

Naruto nodded as the three of them started to walk away from the scene so people would stop being scared.

"Fair enough. You were always most rational among us. Let me ask you this. Now that Hanabi is betrothed to me, who will lead the Hyuuga?"

Shino stiffened as he realized the implications. He was so distraught about Hinata's emotional state that he hadn't even considered the political ramifications. Next to him, Kiba had also figured things out.

"So you're telling me that you intentionally chose Hanabi to clear the path for Hinata to become clan head?" Kiba asked incredulously. "Are you even capable of thinking strategically like that?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Hinata is my friend and while I don't love her, I still care for her. This entire situation was lose-lose for her. Sure she's heartbroken now because she can't marry me, but if she married me, the last of the Uzumaki clan, then she would have had to give up her dreams of becoming the Hyuuga clan head."

"I see." Shino murmured. "Logically, that makes sense, especially given how the Hyuuga clan jealously guards their bloodline. Hinata would have had to be sealed to prevent the Byakugan from manifesting in your bloodline, which would mean that she would effectively be kicked out of the Hyuuga clan for being unable to produce an heir."

"Damn," Kiba muttered under his breath. "All this political crap makes my head spin."

Shino agreed but couldn't deny the logic. The Hyuuga would never stand for the Byakugan to manifest in another clan.

On the other hand, Naruto, especially given the circumstances of his own clan, would never hand any of his children over to the Hyuuga clan regardless of whether they had the Byakugan or not. Naruto needed all the children he could get to expand the clan.

The only solution would have been for Hinata to receive the bloodline limiter seal and removed from the Hyuuga clan. Hinata would still be an honorable member and would not have the caged bird seal placed on her forehead, but Hinata would never be able to bear a child with the Byakugan and would lose any claim to the position of clan head. Shino had to give Naruto credit for thinking things that far in advanced.

"I don't want to be the reason for her throwing away her lifelong dream."

"But Naruto," Kiba argued, "another one of her lifelong dreams was to marry you!" Kiba winced at how pathetic his argument sounded now, especially now that his heart wasn't in his statements. Shino knew that even Kiba had to admit that Naruto's reasoning for rejecting Hinata was solidly sound. They had once again underestimated Naruto and his ability to think about others.

"The old pervert once told me that matters of the heart can heal with time, but loss of purpose is a fatal wound that only gets worse with time. Hinata will get over me. But she will never recover if she lost the opportunity to become clan head."

"Lord Jiraiya was quite wise." Shino had always been intrigued by the former Toad Sage. Many of the women in the village decried him as a pervert, but surely a legendary man like Lord Jiraiya of the Sannin had to have more depth than that.

Shino raised his eyebrows as Naruto snorted before going on. "Wise. Right. Wise in the ways of perversion." Naruto snickered. "Anyway, no one is happy about the arrangements, but I think this was the best way to mitigate the damage. Hinata loses her lifelong love, but has a clear path to achieving her purpose in life as clan head. Hanabi loses the chance to find and marry someone she loves, but at least, she'll get the freedom to seek out her own purpose. Hanabi did say that she felt trapped by her clan and I'm willing to let her have all the freedom she desires. I have to marry someone I don't love, but I get out of a political situation that would have forced me to go marry a girl in another country AND I get a powerful ally in the Hyuuga clan for my future bid to be Hokage. Konoha manages to avert offending two rich countries. The only casualty in all this is love."

Kiba interjected rather forcefully. "Wait a minute! Do you even know Hanabi?"

"I do not recall you having gone with her on any missions." Shino added. It was true. He was not aware that Naruto even knew that Hinata had a little sister. While Naruto had always been more insightful than people gave him credit for, Naruto was quite unobservant. _That_ was certain.

"Hey, hey, chill guys," Naruto put his hands up with a nervous smile. "I'm not making this up. I had a long chat with her a while back. We hit it off really well. She opened up and talked about how she felt confined by her clan. I even trained her for a day or two. Promise! Besides, I told the council that I'd only agree if Hanabi agreed. I made a contract seal that would activate only if Hanabi wanted the marriage. If Hanabi wanted to reject the marriage proposal for Hinata's sake, it was well within her rights to do it."

Shino raised an eyebrow at that. "Hanabi intentionally agreed to marry you when she knew that Hinata was in love with you?"

Naruto shrugged. "Hey, don't look at me. If you want to find out why she made her choice, you're going to have to seek her out. I had no say in her choice."

There was something wrong about that. Surely Hanabi would not lay claim on what was her sister's man? This would merit more observation and investigation.

"The only casualty in all of this is love, huh?" Kiba repeated, more for himself than for anyone else.

Kiba didn't say anything but Shino knew that his teammate now felt guilty about hitting Naruto. To be honest, Shino felt a bit regretful as well.

Naruto was probably not happier with this any more than Hinata was. Naruto was still trying to get over Sakura's death. To suddenly find himself married to another girl would seem like betrayal to him. Still, Naruto was going through with it to help the village and even managed to manipulate the situation to help Hinata be a step closer to achieving her dream as well. Naruto was the consummate friend, a person who never stopped thinking about others.

"Sorry Naruto," Kiba apologized, "I shouldn't have hit you like that. I should have known that this whole thing was hard on you as well."

"Life happens and gets in the way sometimes. What's important is how you play the cards that life deals to you," Naruto said sagely with a sad smile.

"Indeed. Such is the way of life," Shino murmured in a low tone. "To be a shinobi is not to obtain powerful ninjutsu or to have strength of body or even of mind, but to be a shinobi is to become one who endures."

"The wise words of our dear Fourth Hokage," Naruto remarked sadly, "which were derived from the sayings of the Pervy Sage, who valued guts in a ninja more than anything else. Anyway, I need to go change before I make an announcement to the entire village that I'm off the market." Naruto shook his head as he walked away. "I hate rumors."

It was only a couple minutes later when Shino realized something interesting. Kiba realized it the same time he did.

"Hey Shino," Kiba asked. "Since when did Naruto know fuinjutsu?"

* * *

**Village Square, Konoha – March 19, AK 22**

"Patamon?" Takeru looked at his flying pet and friend. "What do you think they're going to announce?"

There had been news that there would be an announcement regarding two of the village's noble clans. The news probably had nothing to do with anything relevant to Takeru, but Naruto-sensei had always told him to keep an eye out for information.

Takeru was at home and Konoha was probably a safer place than just about anywhere else, but Takeru wanted to get into the habit of learning everything he could. He was sure that it would save his life, or more importantly, Hikari's life one day.

Hikari was a kind and sweet girl, but she often placed her faith in the goodness and light of the world. With no disrespect to Hikari, Takeru decided to place his bets on his rapidly improving skills and his teachings of his teacher. He could not leave anything to chance.

Takeru clenched his fists. It was his duty to look out for Hikari. She was his best friend and he'd be damned if she got hurt.

_[I don't know. Oh! Oh! Wait! Do you think that they're going to announce the building of a new candy shop?]_

Patamon flapped his wing-like ears excitedly.

Takeru laughed at the excited little mammal. "Patamon, only you would think a candy shop was that important."

It had been a few days since Takeru began to be able to directly communicate with Patamon. He noticed after a training session that a tattoo appeared on his chest. It appeared like a sun wearing a large cloak. Naruto-sensei had said that the normally invisible seals around the structure looked similar to a blood seal. Takeru was confused why the tattoo appeared more like a blood seal than a summons contract seal but he wasn't complaining about being able to communicate with his pet.

Just as Takeru was told by his parents, Patamon _was_ a ninja animal. Strangely enough, however, Patamon's abilities were greatly tied with Takeru's own. As Takeru became stronger, so did -sensei theorized the two were bonded by the strange blood seal and that a certain unknown quality and emotion was necessary to bond Takeru with Patamon even further.

Currently, all Patamon could do was talk telepathically and launch a few bursts of wind from his mouth, but Takeru suspected that Patamon would eventually be able to talk out loud and take a greater part in battles.

Patamon pouted. _[Well, it's difficult to fight without any energy. It's not my fault that candy is what provides me the most amount of energy to fight with.]_

"Right…" Takeru teased as he stood up on a crate to try to see over the people standing in front of him, "Because you fight so much. All I remember you doing in our last mission was distracting people by flying around their heads."

_[Hey! Don't be mean! I'm trying my best. And besides, my power is tied to yours. If I'm weak, it only means that you're weak!]_

It was true, but Takeru just brush off his pet's words. "At least I don't just eat and poo all day," Takeru muttered.

Patamon had the decently to look embarrassed at that.

_[Sorry...wait! Look! They're starting!]_

Takeru turned to look towards the front.

"The Hyuuga clan would like to thank everyone for showing up promptly. Today, we have an important announcement that will affect the Hyuuga clan as well as the future of this village."

Takeru stared at the man who spoke. His eyes were white and looked particularly familiar.

_That's the Hyuuga clan head!_ Takeru realized. Even orphans knew of the famous Hyuuga clan. The Hyuuga clan was the most powerful and most influential clan in the village. The Hyuuga clan was the closest thing Konoha had to a royal family, especially after the Senju and Uchiha clans went extinct.

Takeru looked to the blonde standing next to the Hyuuga clan head.

"Wait! Isn't that Naruto-sensei?!" Takeru hissed at Patamon.

_[It is! It is!] _Patamon agreed. _[And standing next to him is that pretty lady with white eyes from the other day!]_

"Before we make this announcement, I would like to introduce our village hero, Naruto Uzumaki, the Golden Sun of Konoha!"

There were cheers that erupted. Takeru knew that his teacher was famous, but it seemed as if just about everyone in the village knew and loved Naruto-sensei.

_[Wow, I didn't know Naruto was this popular. You'd think that more people would be angry at him given all his pranks.]_

Takeru agreed. Naruto-sensei said very little about himself and Takeru, being an orphan who lived with his barely older brother, was not in the loop about the gossip in the village.

"We have decided to make this announcement because of all the rumors circulating around the village," Naruto-sensei spoke up before smiling brightly. "I start rumors about _other_ people. _No one_ is allowed to make rumors about the prank-master himself."

It was extremely well covered, but Takeru thought he could see the Hyuuga girl next to tense slightly at that remark.

Takeru's eyes widened. There had been rumors flying around all week that Naruto-sensei was going to get married. Daisuke had made it a little game to try to figure out just whom Naruto-sensei was sweet on. Takeru had just went along with it because Hikari had seemed excited by the prospect, but Takeru himself didn't place too much stock in rumors.

But this entire thing seemed to validate those strange rumors.

If that was Lord Hyuuga, the Hyuuga clan head, it meant that the girl with the same eyes was standing next to Naruto-sensei was the one whom Naruto-sensei was going to get married to.

Takeru whistled lowly. That was impressive. It was said that the Hyuuga clan only accepted the strongest people as potential spouses to even the Branch House members of their clan.

"That is not quite the reason we have decided to make this formal announcement," the Hyuuga clan head spoke up in a slightly strained voice. "This—"

"Oh come on! Lighten up, 'Lord' Hiashi!" Naruto-sensei smirked as the crowd cheered. "You can't bore them out with your archaic way of talking," Naruto-sensei pointed towards the crowd. "Hey everyone! You're all waiting to hear the latest scoop on the village's number one star, right?! There needs to be much more excitement!"

Naruto summoned clones, each with a boom box, and then started break-dancing in front of the crowd to the music that blasted from the boom boxes.

Takeru rolled his eyes as clan head's face twisted into a horrified expression. Naruto-sensei clearly annoyed more people than just his students.

Naruto-sensei definitely had his serious side, but tried to mask it whenever possible with a mild and immature exterior. Takeru knew that it was Naruto-sensei's way to trying to get his enemies to underestimate him, but he wondered if Naruto-sensei sometimes took it a little too far. And he seemed to enjoy it far too much.

Naruto-sensei had now taken off his Sage cape and threw it into the crowd to most people's delight.

"YEAH!" The villagers roared before chanting, "LORD NARUTO!"

"Lord Naruto is the greatest!"

"He's our hero!"

"Lord Naruto for Hokage!"

"Marry me, Lord Naruto! I want to bear your children!"

Takeru thought he could see the woman next to Naruto-sensei twitch in irritation at that last comment.

Takeru wanted to laugh out loud at that. He didn't blame her reaction and in fact, his respect for her went up a lot when he saw her successfully restraining herself.

Even a couple fireworks went off in the sky even though it was still late morning as Naruto continued to put on a show for the cheering villagers.

Eventually, after ten or so minutes, everything went quiet again.

"Now that everyone is excited and the atmosphere is appropriate for our announcement." Naruto laughed lightly as he gestured to the now stoic clan head.

The white-eyed man coughed a few times and then continued as if nothing had happened. "In any case, we would like everyone in the village to know I have given my daughter Hanabi's hand in marriage to Naruto Uzumaki, the Golden Sun of Konoha. The marriage will be in a week. You are all invited to attend."

Takeru's jaw dropped. The girl was the _princess_ of the Hyuuga clan. And she was getting married to _Naruto-sensei_.

His teacher was going to be a _prince_.

_[I'm not sure what this means, but that means your teacher can get me more candy, right?]_

Takeru nodded dumbly.

"That's right! Sorry ladies," Naruto yelled out, "but that means that I'm officially off the market. So no more chasing me around the village, okay?"

A huge explosion then went off and nearly everyone found himself or herself covered in red-orange paint, shiny glitter, and something that felt like fur.

As the smoke cleared, Takeru noticed a strange noise that sounded like stomping. He turned to look towards any possible exit from the village square. In every direction, there was a stampede of thousands of male foxes running towards them.

Takeru's eyes widened again. It wasn't just paint, glitter, and fur that Naruto covered half the village in. Takeru noted with some irritation that Naruto and his wife-to-be had disappeared without a trace.

There was a huge uproar from the crowd as everyone tried to run from the rabid foxes.

The Hyuuga clan head looked especially furious.

* * *

**Hokage's Office, Konoha – March 19, AK22**

"So what do you think of all this?"

"On the surface, I'm just glad that it went much smoothly than it could have," the Hokage groaned. "I thought Naruto would have gone on a rampage before agreeing to get married. I'm just relieved that we came to a solution much faster than we expected. Perhaps he has matured more than we thought. And then Hanabi agreed rather quickly as well. Crisis averted!"

Shikamaru nodded in agreement. Just a few minutes ago, Naruto and Hanabi had announced their upcoming marriage in the village square.

"Well, I doubt that Hiashi would agreed. Who would have expected Naruto to do what he did? He _danced_ in front of the entire village. That's not even mentioning that little stunt he pulled at the every end, drenching everyone in red-orange paint, glitter, fur, and fox pheromones."

Kakashi let out an annoyed sigh. "That was probably his way of getting back at all of us for this marriage. It's much better than expected though."

"I suppose," Shikamaru said slowly, not quite agreeing with the Hokage. The cleanup itself was going to take weeks and that wasn't even considering the hundreds of complaints from people claiming to be traumatized.

"Trust me," Kakashi said knowingly, "Naruto's capable of doing much worse. He held back on this one."

"Right, because burning your _Icha Icha _books is much worse than half the villagers and the entire village square being covered in fox semen."

"That _would_ be a nightmare," Kakashi shuddered, "but I was worried that Naruto might have actually blown up half the village in anger."

Shikamaru frowned. Naruto wouldn't go _that_ far, would he? There were far worse things that a political marriage to someone of his own choice.

He shook his head. Kakashi was probably just overreacting. "Still, I'm surprised that he asked for Hanabi instead of Hinata and that Hanabi actually agreed. Do they even know each other?"

"No," Kakashi's lone visible eye narrowed. "I was wondering about that. I don't recall assigning them to a mission together. Given Naruto's words about Hiashi being a father and clan head, I initially thought Naruto was trying to salvage his bad situation and get something out of it."

"Hinata becoming clan head, you mean," Shikamaru remarked. He too had come to the same conclusion. Kakashi may have suggested that the Hyuuga clan would be an asset for Naruto, but Naruto knew that the Hyuuga clan truly did not even care about Hinata. Offering Hinata had been a way for them to gain some value and return on what was a worthless asset. Naruto must have recognized that and in order to ensure the clan's support, he chose their favored heiress. It probably only helped that Hinata would probably be only too happy to help Naruto as well once she got over the fact that Hanabi got to marry the man Hinata loved for years.

"Yes, but that's clearly not enough to satisfy him if his reaction today in the village square is anything to go by. Naruto's prank shows that he is still very much angry with this situation," Kakashi theorized. "It wasn't as bad as it could have been but he's still lashing out."

"I sense a 'but' here," Shikamaru probed.

"Yes, something just doesn't seem right," the Hokage said. "Like I said, I _know_ Naruto. If we pulled something like this a few years ago, half the village would be destroyed right now instead of covered in bodily fluids. Naruto lacks self-control when it comes to love and anger."

"I get that, but Naruto's the one who chose Hanabi."

"Only after we forced him into that situation."

Shikamaru shook his head. "Doesn't matter. He still had a choice of who to pick. Unless Naruto planned on staying single for the rest of his life, we didn't force him to do anything. We forced him to act earlier than he would like. There's a big difference. Even if he was initially angry, he should have come to terms with it after some time."

"I thought so too. But not after I saw this." Shikamaru looked to see Kakashi holding up a contract. "This is the official marriage contract signed by the parties involved. The seals on it are from an obscure branch of Sage Arts. I'm no expert at the Sage Arts, but I can tell that these seals were designed to read the heart of the signer."

Shikamaru immediately understood the implications. "So then how was the contract able to accept Hanabi when Hanabi doesn't even know Naruto? A desire for duty to the clan wouldn't have been enough to overcome her personal will as far as a seal like that is concerned."

Kakashi put the contract back into a folder. "And that's the issue."

"So you're saying that it's possible for Naruto and Hanabi to have already known each other to the point that Hanabi fell in love with him. That's why this seal activated."

The Sixth nodded. "Well, that's what I want you to find out."

Shikamaru frowned. "Just how do you want me to do that?"

Kakashi snorted. "And they call you a genius." Shikamaru merely glared at the Hokage from behind his mask. He wasn't in the mood for jokes. "I daresay that some of your friends want an explanation for what happened at the general assembly. Some of them know Hanabi on a personal level. Get to the bottom of this. And start checking the contracts from the Land of Spring and Demon Country for authenticity."

"Already ahead of you," Shikamaru said with a smirk even though he knew that Kakashi couldn't see it. "I may be lazy, but there's no way I'm going to let my friend just throw away the rest of his life because of something fake. The contracts check out. They're real."

Kakashi nodded in approval. "That's a relief then. If there was something underhanded then…"

"Yeah, it would possibly mean war," Shikamaru scowled. Everything could lead to war. He wouldn't be surprised if the next war started because the child of one Daimyo caught the child of another picking his or her nose. "But there's nothing there."

"Then our next route is to look inside Konoha." Kakashi held up the contract, "He avoided accepting Hinata by pulling that little stunt to embarrass Hiashi and chose a girl who didn't love him to delay his marriage as long as possible. This seal here was probably designed by Naruto was part of that plan. If Hanabi was unable to activate this seal, then Naruto could have chosen still _another _girl who wasn't Hinata and just continued the process indefinitely."

Shikamaru understood. "But since Hanabi was immediately able to activate the contract, Naruto got upset and then lashed out. He didn't lash out as much as he could have because _his own_ plan failed."

Kakashi nodded. "Yes. There's something strange about the way that Hanabi agreed. I don't want to suspect the Hyuuga clan of something devious, but this is the union of two most powerful clans in the village, even if one of those clans is comprised of just one person. If there is evidence of a conspiracy…"

Shikamaru nodded. "Well we just so happen to be in luck. Kiba set up a dinner meeting a few days from today."

"Good. For now, I'm happy that we averted a potential international crisis, but we may have started a domestic one. At the very least, we bought a lot of time. If there is a conspiracy within the Hyuuga clan, it probably won't be fully set up until Naruto becomes Hokage. I can delay that as long as needed."

Konoha could and would not allow any attempts to shake the foundations of village.

Even if it meant wiping out the Hyuuga clan.

* * *

**Just outside Kasumi Sushi, Konoha – March 19, AK 22**

"Hey, look!" Daisuke pointed. "It's Naruto-sensei and that white-eyed chick!"

"That 'white-eyed chick' is Lady Hanabi, princess of the Hyuuga clan," Takeru said while bumping Daisuke in the arm. "They announced it earlier today in the village square."

Daisuke gasped in shock as Takeru shuddered in a strange manner at that. She threw him a confused look before returning to her thoughts.

Hikari didn't show any emotions, but she hadn't known that either. She had elected to practice some of her newest techniques rather than go to some formal announcement. If she had known that it was going to be about Naruto-sensei, then she might have changed her mind. To think that Naruto-sensei would be dating a noble, no, a _royal_! Wasn't he an orphan just like she was? Was his status as Golden Sun of Konoha worth _that _much?

Hikari turned to look at the two. Naruto-sensei looked dashing as always, but he _always_ wore black. Instead of black shirt and trousers, he wore a black formal robe. Lady Hanabi, however, was absolutely _stunning _in her white dress with a light violet sash and ribbons. There was even a violet flower in Lady Hanabi's hair to accent her femininity. The last time Hikari had seen the princess had been during their tree-climbing session with Naruto-sensei. Back then, Lady Hanabi had been wearing loose training robes. The robes clearly showed that Lady Hanabi was someone of importance, but they did not make her look like an actual princess.

Hikari sighed. If only _she_ was as pretty as Lady Hanabi.

Tailmon seemed to know what Hikari was thinking and mewed softly.

"Aww, Tailmon, I'm not depressed. I just thought it'd be nice if I were prettier," she said brightly. "But I'm still happy with who I am."

"Hey, Hikari, don't say that! You're already pretty enough."

Hikari had her back turned, but she didn't even need to see to figure out who had said that.

"Of course, _you'd_ say that," Hikari retorted.

The attention _was_ flattering, but she just didn't like the boy in that way. It _was_ fun to flirt with him or tease him and Hikari knew she could do far worse than Daisuke, but her heart belonged to Takeru. It wasn't that Daisuke was annoying or unattractive; it was that she just couldn't force herself to like him. Given Takeru's rather cool attitude towards having a romantic relationship with her, Hikari had tried her absolute best to like someone who appreciated her instead. Daisuke was loud, but he genuinely cared for her and had a heart of gold. She was still trying to like him every day. But for whatever reason, her efforts hadn't worked and were not working.

So that was why it was shocking for her to see Naruto marrying someone so quickly. Hikari had asked Naruto a month or so before she became his student whether he was dating anyone. He was single then. How did he just rapidly develop feeling for a girl in such a short amount of time? And vice versa, of course.

"Aww, don't be like that, Hikari," Takeru added. "You would look amazing as well if you dressed up. And besides, you're only ten. Lady Hanabi is a woman. Of course she's going to look elegant."

Hikari nodded. "Well, like I told Tailmon, I don't really care too much about looks. It was just a passing fantasy. I would much rather be powerful like Naruto-sensei."

"It's still not fair how strong he is," Daisuke complained. "We train day and night to be strong and we still get our asses kicked every time we go up against him."

"There's a reason why he's a jounin," Hikari admonished lightly. "He's had over ten years to become that strong."

"Don't remind me," Daisuke groaned. "The way Naruto-sensei trains is simply ridiculous. It's enough to kill someone. We'll never catch up to him at this rate."

"And if you think Naruto-sensei is strong, just imagine how strong Lord Hokage is. The title of Hokage is given to the strongest person in the village," Takeru murmured.

That was enough to sober them up. The strongest person they knew wasn't even the strongest person in the _village_, let alone the world. They each had a lot of catching up to do.

"I wish he started teaching us more ninjutsu and genjutsu instead of taijutsu," Daisuke muttered. "I understand that he wants us to do basics first, but we're already skilled in that. We can take even the advanced genin teams."

"Well if you read some of the scrolls that he gave us, then you would have seen instructions on how to create your own techniques," Hikari said with a shake of her head. "I've already created multiple genjutsu and ninjutsu techniques for myself."

That was the only thing that really gave her pause about Daisuke. He really never looked beyond what was in front of his nose.

"Aww, I already read those," Daisuke insisted, "But creating techniques is too hard to do! And mine only end up being weak. I want to be able to fire off like the ones that Naruto-sensei does."

"Daisuke," Hikari groaned despite being pleased that he _had_ looked at those scrolls. "That's because you're not as strong as sensei."

"Yeah, yeah," Daisuke responded in a sad tone. "I get it."

"Speaking of which," Hikari felt herself blushing lightly as Takeru suddenly address her, "did you manage to finish that technique?"

"Technique?" Daisuke repeated, while suddenly becoming serious. "What technique?"

Hikari shook her head. "Nope." She turned to Daisuke. "Takeru believes that I'll be able to talk to Tailmon since she has her own chakra pathway and everything. Tailmon seems like she's bonded to me, but the connection still isn't as strong as Takeru's and Patamon's."

"But can't you understand Tailmon anyway?"

Hikari nodded. "I can, but it's usually instinctual. I won't be able to ask her about the exact number of enemies or how they look. Instead, I'll only be able to know that there are a lot of enemies. Figuring out how to improve my communication with Tailmon will be critical. No offense to Patamon," she gestured to the flying guinea pig, "but Tailmon looks more like a natural animal and can spy for us."

Daisuke crossed his arms. "Can I see your progress?"

Hikari nodded before taking out her scroll. She knew that most ninjas didn't ever share information on techniques like this, but she trusted her teammates with even her life.

She rolled the large scroll out for them to see.

Takeru gasped when he looked at the contents. "This is advanced jutsu theory for fuinjutsu. There's no way you can pull off something like this alone."

She nodded. "Naruto-sensei's been helping me out with this since this is beyond what I can do myself."

"Well, from the little I know," Daisuke said thoughtfully, "it looks like you're trying to brand yourself."

Hikari was shocked he knew even that much, but she tilted her head to show that he was correct. She found herself being surprised by the boy more and more every day. "We tried to force the creation of a blood seal similar to Takeru's."

"Why mine?" Takeru asked. "And besides, don't most summons not require a seal? I thought all that was necessary was signing a contract."

"Tailmon and Patamon aren't summons. They're familiars."

"Isn't that the same thing?" Daisuke asked.

Hikari shook her head. "Familiars are able to stay indefinitely and aren't summoned from another place. They're specifically linked to one person as well."

"Wait, what about the Inuzuka?" Daisuke asked. "Remember Fuuta in the Academy? She had her puppy with her and could understand it."

"That's a bloodline technique. They don't require any seals to understand their dogs. Their blood itself gives them the ability to do so." Hikari explained. "I asked the same thing to Naruto-sensei."

Takeru frowned. "So then, why did mine appear automatically? I don't remember having to go through something elaborate like this."

"I think it has to do with the fact that Patamon was left by your parents. They must have known and branded you with a seal before they passed away," Hikari mused.

"So what's holding you up, Hikari?" Daisuke asked while pointing to the scroll. "Can't you just activate this?"

"Idiot," Takeru muttered. "You know that seals aren't just meant to be activated like that."

"Jerk, I know that," Daisuke fired back. "But if Naruto-sensei created this thing, it should be safe. Naruto-sensei's a sadist, but he'd never do anything that would kill us."

"There are things far worse than death. That reminds me. I'm going to kill him," Takeru said in an angry tone.

"What happened to you?" Daisuke asked, immediately catching the annoyed tone. "Did Naruto-sensei do something to you?"

"Nothing! Mind your own business," Takeru growled out uncharacteristically. "Let's get back to Hikari's technique."

Hikari looked at Takeru curiously. Usually, he wasn't one to be upset, but something was bothering him today.

She giggled. Naruto-sensei probably pranked Takeru again.

"Anyway, it _is_ safe and I've technically branded myself. This scroll is just at copy of what's already here." Hikari pressed her hand on her chest. "It's just that there's something missing. The sealing array changed when we added Tailmon's blood to it and then the seal disappeared from view altogether. It's probably just invisible until I find the missing ingredient."

"So something like the 'quality' I need to deepen my connection to Patamon."

"We're not too sure about that. There's nothing saying that Tailmon is the same type of familiar as Patamon."

"So in other words, it's a dud," Takeru said in a disappointed tone. "Oh well."

"For now, at least," Hikari nodded as she put away the scroll.

They turned back to Naruto-sensei and his fiancé who were still talking.

"Oh look!" Daisuke pointed again. "They're going into that restaurant."

"Kasumi Sushi?" Takeru read with a frown. "That place is one of the most expensive places to eat!" Takeru suddenly got a vengeful look on his face. "Daisuke?"

"Yeah?" Daisuke responded.

"Let's come up with the most brutal prank we could think of. I'm in a particularly vicious mood today."

"What happened to you?" Daisuke asked again. "Come on, tell me what Naruto-sensei did to you!"

Hikari was taken aback by the angry and horrified look in his face. She had already guessed that Naruto-sensei played a prank on him, but what prank could be _that_ bad that Takeru would be horrified.

"Don't ask. I'm just going to get Naruto-sensei back in the cruelest way possible."

* * *

**Kasumi Sushi, Konoha – March 19, AK22**

"I thought you only ate ramen," Hanabi said in a light tone.

She was astonished that Naruto had offered to take her out on a date to the most expensive place in the village. While he seemed like the reliable type, he definitely didn't appear to be romantic in any sense.

Furthermore, she was surprised that he actually ate well at the restaurant. She had half-expected him to order ramen even though Kasumi's was a sushi restaurant.

"Geez," her fiancé muttered, "everyone always tells me that. You don't see me saying that I'm surprised that you eat something other than bananas and milk."

Hanabi blinked at that. How had Naruto known her favorite foods?

He was much more informed and observant than even she had expected.

"Well, I'm told that you're always ate at that ramen stand," she said simply as she chewed on her final piece of salmon.

"And that's because in the past, no one else would serve me."

Hanabi nodded. "I see."

"It's not something for you to worry about. That's all in the past," Naruto said flippantly.

Hanabi fell silent after that and merely watched as Naruto paid for their food and slowly led her out the door towards the nearby lake within the village.

She still felt a bit awkward as she stood next to him as the wind blew lightly across their faces. It had been easier to talk to him earlier when they were discussing Naruto's prank on the village. He had assured her that it had nothing to do with her, but she still felt a bit annoyed that he would use the wedding announcement as an opportunity to prank the entire village for forcing him into an arranged marriage.

But now that there was nothing specific to talk about, she was at a loss for words. She didn't know what to say to him after their conversation from yesterday. She all but declared her growing romantic interest in him. Something like that was a first for her.

"You're awfully quiet," Naruto remarked as he lightly squeezed her hand.

It was still early evening so they could see sun set past the trees beyond the lake. "I don't know what to say," she admitted honestly. "This is all just so new to me."

"How about we talk about our pasts then?" Naruto said wistfully. "Our experiences shape who we are and by understanding that, we can get to know each other a bit more. You already know a lot about my past so let's hear yours."

"I doubt my past is as storied as yours," Hanabi said dryly.

Naruto chuckled lightly. "Perhaps, but that doesn't make yours any less important. No experience is insignificant."

Hanabi nodded. It was better than nothing, she supposed. _Anything_ would do to get rid of the awkward silence.

"Well, my mother passed away when I was young from an illness. She was never sickly so people originally suspected an assassination, but there was no proof suggesting that," Hanabi said softly. "I don't think my father recovered from that. He became really strict after that and even more rigid and stoic after Hinata was almost kidnapped."

"Ah," Naruto nodded. "I heard about that story. It's how Neji lost his father, right?"

"Yes. My father apparently offered himself, no doubt in part because he wanted to rejoin my mother in the afterlife, but Uncle Hizashi knocked my father out and took his place."

"Again...all to prevent war," Naruto said in a soft voice.

Hanabi looked at him curiously. "Yes, to prevent war. Why? Do you think that it was a bad choice? Do you think we should have gone to war?"

Naruto shook his head. "It's hard to say. Sometimes, it's worth fighting to prove we are in the right. But other times, things are not worth fighting over. And it's subjective and relative too. I'm sure Neji would have preferred war while most villagers are happy things turned out the way they did."

"So when is something right and when is something wrong?" Hanabi asked with a frown. "Are you saying there is no objective morality in this world?"

"No," Naruto smiled. "I'm not saying anything like that. I'm just saying that I don't know what that objective right is. The Third chose whatever benefited the majority. He used to say that 'sacrifices need to be made and that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.' So it would be just like him to ask the Hyuuga clan to make such a sacrifice. It's hard to tell whether that was the right choice or not. That's all I'm saying."

"The Hyuuga clan swore allegiance and loyalty to the village. Father says we must honor that pledge at all costs."

Her fiancé smiled. "And that sounds exactly like something your father would say. Instead of saying that it's about protecting people and saving lives, he twisted it to be about your clan's honor. So to him, honor is morality."

"I suppose," she agreed.

"So how was your childhood after that?"

"It was constant training and I became strong really quickly. I was probably genin level _before_ entering the Academy. I got sent to the Academy late and graduated in one year because I was so skilled. But that left no time for friends, fun, or anything the clan considered useless. It was a constant struggle to become stronger. I'm surprised that I turned out like this despite all that indoctrination."

Hanabi gestured towards herself and tilted her head back as if posing for a picture.

"Are you complimenting yourself on your physical appearance or your personality?" Naruto chuckled.

She smiled slyly. "Both, of course. The Hyuuga clan tried to make me as masculine as possible and as stoic as possible, but I'm graceful, feminine, soft, and kind."

"No comment," Naruto said with a smile, showing that he was just joking.

"In any case, that was my entire life. It was daily sparring with Hinata and fighting classes with the tutors in our clan. I _did_ learn about politics and traditional ceremonies and customs, but the Hyuuga clan always valued strength above all. None of the Branch House members would speak to me because I was considered untouchable. In that sense, I was jealous of Hinata who always seemed to be surrounded by friends."

"Life often operates like that. We often want what others have without realizing that it would cost us what we currently have. I'm willing to bet that Hinata would have traded her childhood for yours."

Hanabi nodded. "She would have. My sister wants Father's approval more than anything else."

There was a pause.

"It's sad that Hinata doesn't count herself as blessed," Naruto said in a thoughtful voice, "Friends are the most valuable things that a person can have in this world."

Hanabi smiled sadly before going on. "I agree. For my part, I was never surrounded by friends like the way she was and is. There are a few people that I know and hang out with but most of my close friends died in the past decade. My genin teammates and my jounin instructor all died in an ambush."

Naruto winced. "Ouch. It's tough losing friends. To lose them at once and to be the only survivor must have been tough on you."

Hanabi squeezed his hand tightly. "It was. It was difficult to recover from that. I've kept most people at an arm's length away to prevent myself from getting hurt like that. The extra training time helped me become as strong as I am now, but because of that, I've felt lonely a fair amount of the time."

Naruto swung her around lightly before wrapping his arms around her. Hanabi leaned her head against his chest. "I can't promise that I'll always be with you, but I promise that you won't feel lonely while you're with me."

"I know," Hanabi murmured into his chest.

"I can't promise you that I'll love you, but I will promise to be the best husband I can be," Naruto whispered.

"And I'll try to be the best wife for you," Hanabi hugged him tightly. "We were technically forced into this marriage, but I want to make the most of it and try to make it something we both enjoy."

"As do I," Naruto murmured. He suddenly pulled himself back and lifted her in his arms to look at her closely. "Where did the girl who was complaining that I was making passes at her go?"

Hanabi laughed lightly while in his arms, in part because it was one of the rare times she felt like a girl. "I guess all your flirting worked on me."

"The Pervy Sage is probably crying with joy somewhere," Naruto said in an amused tone. "Although, if I ever see him, I'll tell him that the person doing the flirting is probably more important than the flirting itself."

Hanabi stared straight into his sincere blue eyes. "I so knew it. You weren't just flirting with me to test me." She leaned closer and began to close her eyes. "You were genuinely making passes at me. You're horrible, Sage Naruto."

"Keep telling yourself that, little firecracker." Hanabi wrapped her arms around his neck. Her eyes were closed, but knew that her lips were probably a few centimeters away from Naruto's lips.

She was about to take the final leap and lean toward him when her danger senses went haywire.

Naruto responded before she could even twitch. She felt him clasp her tightly and jump towards the water.

She was about to yell at him for ruining her clothes, when she heard him whisper, "Wind Release: Divine Twister."

Instantly, Hanabi found herself inside a huge tornado of wind and water as the gusts of wind that Naruto summoned forced the water from the pond to rise up and twirl.

She was shocked to say the least. She was actually _inside_ of a technique.

The power in the technique wasn't all that much—she suspected that Naruto greatly reduced the power—but the way the water was rising up into the air was simply breathtaking. She didn't have her Byakugan activated, but she could still see how the water followed the path of the wind in distinct streams. If it had been brighter, the technique would have created multiple rainbows around them.

As the small waterspout died out, the water started to collapse around them like falling curtains.

"Nice try," Naruto called out. "But seriously…itching powder and paint?"

Hanabi wanted to hit something. She had initially thought it was an attack, but it had been an attempt to prank them. She immediately knew who the perpetrators were.

"Naruto, your students are crazy."

His students were. While they were extremely well behaved on missions, aside from the girl, Hikari, they were probably some of the most disrespectful and undisciplined children at other times. On top of that, they were highly skilled. It wasn't close by any means, but it had been harder to detect the children because they didn't have killing intent.

Naruto laughed. "I'm guessing that one or more of them were in the village square earlier."

She looked at him with an annoyed expression. "Then this is _your_ fault. Ugh."

"Naruto-sensei, prepare to die! I'm going to kill you!" a voice came from beyond the trees near them as small pellets flew towards them.

Judging by voice, it seemed like Takeru was the one who had been there to hear the announcement. Hanabi figured that he had not appreciated being sprayed with the reproductive fluids of foxes.

"Naïve!"

Naruto swept his arm and a huge burst of wind flew out away from them. Hanabi groaned when she saw bursts of _pink_ paint come out from the pellets. If, by chance, any of those pellets were to hit them, then she and Naruto would have had to walk home in pink paint. They would be the laughingstock of the entire village.

"You really need to learn how to control your students. This is just ridiculous."

Hanabi wanted to jump out of his arms to be able to better protect herself but Naruto only held onto her tighter. Naruto replicated her water whip to seek out and catch the little pranksters.

A couple minutes later, three children and two mammals were caught and bound by a water rope.

"What do you have to say of yourselves?"

"Tch," Takeru muttered. "We almost had you. TWO more seconds and you'd be itching all the way home."

"It's all your fault, you idiot," Daisuke yelled. "Who cares about drenching them in paint and itching powder. We could have gotten blackmail material if you had waited! That would have been a better prank!"

Hanabi turned red at that. She had been so engrossed with Naruto's presence that she had not felt the three children nearby. Given Naruto's amused expression, he, however, had. It was just another reason why he was as skilled as he was.

"Oh shut up!" Takeru fired back. "Naruto-sensei probably knew we were already there and would have punished us for watching. He was probably waiting for that. I merely attacked when he was least likely to expect it. And if you hadn't messed up with that first throw, he might not have reacted in time."

"It's not like you to act like this Takeru," Naruto chortled. "You're usually more level-headed than this. I think Daisuke is influencing you more than you're influencing him."

"Hey!" Daisuke yelled.

Takeru scoffed at the comment and ignored the outburst from his teammate. "I'm traumatized for life, you bastard of a teacher. You covered me in fox _semen_."

Hikari gasped in horror. "WHAT?!" she shrieked. "SENSEI! That's gross! How could you do something like that?"

"Oh shut up," Naruto groaned. "You're probably upset because of a perceived loss of innocence or something like that."

Hikari turned red. "It's not that! I'm not thinking of getting into Takeru's pants, pervent sensei! We're only ten! We're too young for things like that! I'm just saying that you're disgusting!"

Daisuke also looked appalled. "And forget how _could _he do that...I'm more interested in knowing how he _did_ manage that!"

Naruto took on a serious expression. "It was nothing personal. Takeru just happened to be in the village square. Everyone who was there got pranked. Haha. I just summoned a bunch of foxes after I sprayed everyone with fox pheromones and covered everyone in red-orange paint and fur. Foxes are also red-orange in color so it worked out." Hanabi stepped back in fear at Naruto's expression. He had a crazed expression on his face. "You prevented me from getting a kiss from my beautiful fiancé and completely ruined the mood." Hanabi blushed lightly at that despite the ridiculous look on Naruto's face. She was _fairly_ sure he was just pretending. "This requires punishment." Naruto fumbled with something in his robes. "Aha! Here it is. I still have a vial of pheromones left and I have the perfect subjects to use them on."

Hanabi rolled her eyes as the children started crying and screaming at the same time.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

AN: I lied. I ended up posting this chapter up far faster than I thought I would. But I'm sure you all know that this blistering pace of updates is only temporary. I'll eventually have to slow down.

Anyway, I'm sure all of you noticed that this is mostly a filler chapter. I took the original chapter and split it into two and inserted a bunch of filler scenes.

The result? Faster update, but less actual relevant content. Interestingly enough, it ended up being my longest chapter so far.

I suppose giving more depth to each of Naruto's students was good even though I hadn't planned on doing so until much later. And laying out the framework for how Takeru and Hikari will fight later on will clear up any confusion when I do introduce it later on. If anyone was curious, yes, the "seal" on Takeru's chest is the Crest of Hope and as in _Digimon_, it will be the quality of hope that allows him to "power up." Likewise, Hikari's quality will be light or goodness. The actual _style _of fighting won't be important, but those qualities will be very important to the story. That's why I decided to develop their characters a bit more in this chapter (and it's the reason why I didn't write a Daisuke's POV; he's not quite as important).

Still, in spite of everything, I'm not sure if I like this chapter. Apart from the very first chapter, in terms of quality, this is probably worst chapter. I feel like it was rushed and that much of the dialogue was forced. I have no choice but to do something like this again for the _next_ chapter since I had split up the original chapter, but I don't think I'm going to try dumping more content into a chapter that was already done for the most part. I can understand why the Naruto fillers sucked so much. It's really difficult to develop meaningless content out of nowhere.


	10. Engagement - Jealousy & Secrets

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. This is fanfiction, after all.

* * *

**Training Grounds, Konoha – March 20, AK 22**

Konohamaru wanted to slap himself on the head. He was going to have to deal with this… torture for the next five weeks while Naruto prepares for his wedding and goes on his honeymoon.

Naruto had promised Konohamaru to help him finalize his elemental variant of the Rasengan, but Konohamaru was wondering if that was worth it. Seeing the three hyperactive kids in front of him made him regret his decision somewhat.

"Settle down, you guys!" he scolded, "Are you this crazy when Big Brother Naruto is here, too?"

Hikari giggled, "Well Daisuke usually is, until Naruto-sensei shuts him down. The easiest way to get Daisuke to shut up is to tell him that whatever he's doing isn't going to impress me."

Konohamaru threw a look at the brown-haired boy who was now blushing brightly. "Oh? Sounds kind of like Big Brother Naruto. He used to get rejected all the time when he was a kid."

Takeru looked at him eagerly. "Really? He really was a loser like that? It would be awesome to have something to get back at him with."

"Get back at him?" Konohamaru asked. "Naruto pranks you?"

All three students shuddered.

"Fox pheromones," Hikari groaned lightly.

Konohamaru laughed. He had heard about that incident in the village square. Clearly, Naruto did not give his own students special treatment.

"In any case, is it true that he kept getting rejected when he was younger?" Takeru asked again, "Right now, I would think he'd get any girl he wants because he's the village hero."

"Psh. Village hero means nothing but zero," Daisuke sniffed. "Naruto-sensei doesn't have manners and he's too cruel for any chick to fall for him."

"Says, the person who keeps striking out," Konohamaru snickered. "At least your teacher changed his fortunes around. It seems like little Hikari here likes Takeru more than you, Daisuke."

Konohamaru laughed as Hikari and Takeru both flushed and Daisuke raved in anger.

Kids were too fun to tease. Konohamaru didn't have his own students just yet, but he'd give his future students hell.

"Anyway, tell us stories about Naruto-sensei!" Hikaru pleaded. Her cat meowed in agreement.

Konohamaru nodded as he fended off the three eager children. Konohamaru smiled as he thought of the past. It really had been a long time since those days. It was almost ten years now since he first met his brother and both of them had changed quite a bit in that time.

"Big Brother Naruto…" Konohamaru started, "well, he used to be really loud and brash like Daisuke here."

"Hey! I'm not brash and loud!"

"You just were," Takeru said dryly.

"Oh shut up!"

"You're just upset because I said the truth!"

"Am _not_!"

"I guess you would rather argue than hear about Naruto," Konohamaru said in an annoyed tone. It was fun to tease them but it was irritating _dealing_ with immature kids. Kids should just blush and complain. That's how they were the best.

Hikari glared at both of them. "Knock it off, _both_ of you."

The boys instantly shut up.

Konohamaru smirked at the boys. They were already whipped. Both by the _same_ girl.

"Anyway, continuing with the story. Naruto was in love with one of his teammates. Her name was Sakura Haruno."

"Ooh! I know her! I heard so many stories about how strong and beautiful she is," Hikari shouted excitedly.

"Haha. Well, honestly to me, she seemed more like a demon than a pretty woman," Konohamaru shivered at the memory of the pink-haired super-powered fiend, "but Naruto loved her from the moment he saw her. Some older kids were teasing her and hitting her for having a large forehead and pink hair. Naruto intervened and saved her from bullies—and got beat up in the process," Konohamaru added under his breath, "Naruto just never forgot the smile she gave him." He paused at the sounds of 'awww' that came from the students.

"Then what happened?" Hikari asked curiously.

Konohamaru gave her a sad look. "Sakura's parents didn't really like him so they kept telling Sakura to hit him, insult him, and chase him away."

"That's not nice at all!" Daisuke yelled indignantly. "How can they do something like that to someone as kind as Naruto-sensei? He was the only regular visitor to the orphanage. There's no one with a better heart!"

"His pranks are annoying, but Naruto-sensei's a great person at heart!" Takeru argued as well. "His pranks are no reason to mistreat him like that!"

"It wasn't because of his pranks," Konohamaru said somberly. "In fact, his pranks were a way for him to get attention and he just kept it up, even to this day."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Takeru inquired.

"Well, it's a complicated story, but a lot of the older people, including Sakura's parents, didn't like your teacher for a really dumb reason."

"Which is?" Takeru pressed.

Konohamaru mentally shrugged as he kicked his conscience that was telling him not to tell. It _was_ Naruto's secret, but it wasn't like Naruto hid it from anyone now, especially after the Kyuubi's spirit disappeared.

"The stories of the Fourth defeating the Kyuubi?" Konohamaru mentioned in a casual tone. "Wrong. The Kyuubi was sealed inside Naruto."

"EH?!" Hikari gaped. "No way!"

"Nope, it's true," Konohamaru stated firmly. "You can't killed the bijuu so the best you can do is to seal it inside of a person. Naruto just ended up being the sacrifice."

"So," Takeru asked slowly, "then why did people hate him? Naruto saved the village, right?"

Konohamaru gave the boy a small smile, "Because people saw Naruto _as_ the Kyuubi, not the container of it. While no one wanted to kill Naruto because of the village law protecting Naruto, a lot of the children were told to mistreat him as much as possible. But Naruto kept trying his best to get the attention of everyone, including Sakura. So he kept pranking people so they would acknowledge him in _some_ way. They yelled at him, but Naruto preferred that to being ignored by everyone."

"And because of that hate, her parents kept telling Sakura to mistreat him," Hikari concluded as she winced.

"But Naruto kept trying to win Sakura's love and did everything he could to make her fall in love with him. It might have worked, but Sakura fell in love with another boy named Sasuke," Konohamaru explained. "The funny thing is…the three of them became genin teammates."

Konohamaru was impressed when he saw comprehension dawn on their faces. The deeper meaning was not lost of any of them.

"So basically, you're saying I'm like Naruto-sensei, Takeru is like Sasuke, Hikari is like Sakura," Daisuke said. "I don't want to be like Naruto-sensei! He's a great person, but he's marrying that Hanabi girl! I don't want to find a different girl! I want to marry Hikari! Hikari is an angel! She never hits me at all!"

Konohamaru chuckled. "Well, I don't think Naruto minded getting hit too much. And in the end, he did get Sakura after about ten years of chasing her. So there's hope for you yet."

"Nope," Hikari said with her arms folded. "Not even in ten years. I won't hit him, but that doesn't mean I'm going to date him either."

Hikari's cat mewed in approval.

Daisuke got depressed at that as the rest of them laughed. "Keep chopping away, Daisuke," Konohamaru said with a smile, "remember that the axe-man did not fell the tree with only one strike. Just be careful not to annoy her too much when you do it."

There was another round of laughter at that, again at Daisuke's expense.

"So why is Naruto marrying Lady Hanabi when she's a princess? If the older generations hate him, why is Lady Hanabi's father letting her marry him?" Takeru asked.

Konohamaru frowned. " Naruto eventually changed the opinions of the people in the village. So he's respected now. And…Naruto might not have told you this, but he's a noble too. He's the clan head of the Uzumaki clan."

"WHAT?" All three of them stood up.

"Naruto-sensei's a noble?" Takeru asked breathlessly as the flying guinea pig fell on his head, shocked as well.

"I thought he was an orphan," Daisuke said in a stunned voice.

"I knew it. That's why he was strong and so amazing," Hikari told her cat, which just purred in response. She gave a mischievous look at Daisuke. "Hey Daisuke, I might date you if you were as amazing as Naruto-sensei AND if you were a noble." She got a dreamy look on her face. "I wonder what it would be like to marry a prince."

Konohamaru rolled his eyes at the swooning girl. "Well, he was an orphan. He didn't know who his parents were until he became much older. Also, even if they didn't like him in the past, most of the people in Konoha like Naruto now. Naruto saved this village more than anyone else in the history of the village. You three are really lucky to be the students of someone like him." Konohamaru gestured at Daisuke. "You should really pay attention. Big Brother Naruto's going to be the Seventh Hokage."

"Really?!" Daisuke asked. "No way! I'm being taught by the next Hokage?"

"Yup. So pay attention to what he teaches you, okay?" Konohamaru lectured. "He's even stronger than the Hokage. The only reason he's not the Hokage right now is because he's _too _strong and the village needs him out in the field chasing away the bad people."

"Wait, what?!" Takeru asked. "He's stronger than the Hokage?"

"Yup," Konohamaru nodded. "_Easily_ stronger than the Hokage. He was stronger than Lord Hokage five or six years ago. I'm pretty sure that Naruto's the strongest person in the world."

"Wow, I didn't know that Naruto-sensei was a legend like that. We heard stories about him being the Golden Sun, but no one ever told us that he was the strongest ninja in our village," Takeru said in an awed tone.

"It makes sense though," Hikari whispered in a reverent tone. "I can't possibly imagine how anyone could be stronger than Naruto-sensei. He throws around incredibly destructive techniques as if they're candy. And we've never seen him get winded at all."

"Tch," Daisuke scowled. "I don't care. He's still an asshole at times. And besides, he ditched his girlfriend to marry a princess. I can't approve of that!"

"Idiot. Don't talk about things you know nothing about. Sakura died," Konohamaru said in a flat tone. "And Naruto was forced to marry Hanabi."

There was a long silence and Daisuke looked about ready to choke.

"Died?" Hikari gasped. "How?"

Konohamaru cringed at her tone. Given how Daisuke had compared his team with Naruto's own team, Hikari was projecting herself onto Sakura. Hearing that Sakura died must have been a psychological blow to the girl.

"She was assassinated," Konohamaru said somberly. "I don't think Naruto ever recovered from that. Even though he still pulls these pranks, he got much more serious after that incident. I've never seen him give anyone a genuine smile after that day." Konohamaru gave them a stern look. "Daisuke, you may think you love Hikari and I'm sure you do, but your love for Hikari is nothing compared to how much Naruto loved Sakura. Naruto took a deathblow for Sakura at least five times and it's only a miracle that he's still alive. One time, Naruto came back to the village with a huge hole in his right lung because of her."

Konohamaru reflected on that. It was true. Naruto was always trying to protect her and make her happy. He pushed his own selfishness aside to try to return Sasuke to her. Konohamaru was willing to bet that Naruto had broken every bone in his body _at least_ once because of Sakura.

Konohamaru mentally frowned. This whole marriage just didn't seem characteristic of Naruto. Since when did Naruto bow to the wishes of the council? Did Sakura's death affect him _that_ much?

No, that couldn't have been it.

An S-ranked mission, perhaps, for both Naruto and Hanabi?

Maybe…Konohamaru would have to keep an eye on his big brother and his training partner and help out in whatever way possible.

"A hole in his right lung?" Daisuke asked disbelievingly, shaking Konohamaru out of his thoughts.

"Wow," Hikari whispered. "That would be enough for _me_ to fall in love with someone." Hikari must have realized what she said, because she added, "That doesn't mean you should try to die for me, you idiot! Don't you _dare_ think about doing something like that!"

The boy was in no state to even process what Hikari had said. Daisuke kept shaking his head in shock. "He was willing to _die_? All because he loved this Sakura girl?"

Konohamaru nodded. "Not just once, but multiple times."

"Makes you wonder how much Naruto-sensei is hiding," Takeru said in a low tone. "We all knew that he was using his jokes as a way of hiding from the world, but there's no way that's his real personality if he's gone through so much."

Daisuke gave a sad look towards Hikari. They boy was no doubt considering whether he could sacrifice his own life for the girl. Hikari looked visibly uncomfortable with the idea.

Pretending not to notice, Konohamaru nodded again and continued. "Why do you think Sakura eventually fell in love with him? That didn't just happen because he kept asking her out. He would have and could have died for her. Did Naruto not even tell you his nindo?"

The three shook their heads.

"Nope. He just told us that we had to look 'underneath the underneath' as ninjas and that teamwork will help us become stronger," Takeru replied softly. "Something about the total being greater than the sum of its parts."

Konohamaru nodded again. "Those are all wise words. But Naruto lives by a few other rules. The first one is 'those who abandon the rules are trash, but those who abandon their friends are worse than trash.' The second one is 'you will truly become strong when protecting those precious to your heart.' The third one is to 'never give up.' Those three creeds make him the person he is now. He was hated by the village and hated by the girl he loved, but he never gave up and fought to the death for those he cared about. That's why he's respected now and that's why he's going to become the Hokage. Don't you _ever_ forget that, okay?"

"Wow…" Daisuke said sadly, "I feel bad for everything I said about him and to him. I didn't know he was that deep and that caring of a person. I always was happy that he visited me in the orphanage but to think he was carrying such a burden in his heart."

Konohamaru put his hand on Daisuke's head. "Well, Big Brother doesn't really like talking about himself too much. You're hardly the first who disrespected him and I don't think he thinks any less of you because of it."

"Konohamaru-sensei," Hikari asked tentatively, "why do you call Naruto-sensei your brother? Are you two related?"

"No," he laughed. "We're not related."

"Then?" Daisuke asked. "Are you just close to him?"

Konohmaru nodded in assent. "Yes, Naruto's always been there for me as an older brother. You said that he visited you all the time while you were in the orphanage, right? Well, Naruto made sure to take care of me as well when I was younger, especially after my grandfather passed away."

"The Third Hokage?"

"Yup. He was my grandfather. One of the greatest people who ever lived." Konohamaru got a bit misty-eyed at that. _I still miss you, Grandpa. I hope you're proud of the man I've become_. _And I'm sure you'd be proud of the person Big Brother Naruto has become._ He looked down at the kids again. "Well, that's enough for story-time. Now, I know Naruto taught you about tree-climbing and water-walking. What else did he teach you?"

"Teamwork exercises, setting up traps, and using different weapons," Daisuke said immediately. "We kept pestering him for ninjutsu, but he just waved us off."

Konohamaru smiled. "Well, ninjutsu usually doesn't come until much later."

Hikari shook her head. "It's not that, Konohamaru-sensei. Daisuke's not telling you the entire truth."

Konohamaru raised an eyebrow. "Hm?"

Hikari took out several scrolls. "He gave us instructions on how to create our own techniques."

Konohamaru took the scrolls and opened them to see the contents.

His eyes widened in disbelief.

Naruto was teaching them _expert_-level chakra theory. Even most jounin didn't even bother trying to understand chakra from an academic point of view.

"Naruto is crazy if he expects you to get anything practical out of this," Konohamaru muttered before turning to the kids. "Do you understand what's in these scrolls?"

All three of them shook their heads.

"Naruto-sensei goes over the material with us from time to time. We've all finished reading the scrolls individually, but we've only gotten through a tenth of the material in those scrolls with him," Takeru explained.

Daisuke crossed his arms. "Naruto-sensei told us that we don't have to understand everything at this moment, but he wants us to be familiar with the material for when he _does_ teach us advanced techniques. But I want to learn _now_."

_So it's not just Naruto being crazy then,_ Konohamaru mused. _He's probably trying to get them to completely understand every technique they do even from an academic point of view instead of understanding them only on an instinctive level like most people. Since when did he start valuing bookwork?_

Again, there was something strange going on. Naruto occasionally seemed to revert back to his old personality—almost as if he was forcing himself to act like that—but Konohamaru could sense that Naruto definitely changed in the last few years. The way he was teaching his students only confirmed it.

Konohamaru felt somewhat uneasy at that. A smarter Naruto did _not_ seem pleasant. A smarter Naruto might ruminate too much on the village's past treatment of him. A smarter Naruto would be _dangerous_.

No.

He shook his head. That was his stupid paranoia speaking up again. Konohamaru trusted Naruto.

Naruto wasn't an enemy. That was impossible.

Konohamaru turned to his temporary students with a smile. "I happen to be a ninjutsu specialist. So tell me," he said, "what do you three know about something called nature manipulation?"

* * *

**Hyuuga Clan Compound, Konoha – March 20, AK 22**

Hanabi wanted to get some morning practice in until the formal meeting between the clan heads and the Hokage. It would be then when her body would be sealed so that the Byakugan would not be passed on to her offspring. It stung that her children wouldn't have something that defined so much of her own life, but she figured it was a small price to pay to be completely free of the clan. Fortunately, the chances were still high that another bloodline may manifest in her children. Although once disputed by the Uchiha, it was said that the Sharingan was born this way, and it was also the reason why political marriages between clans were still popular. The clan sending away a member still got to keep their bloodlines exclusive while the family receiving the member developed a distinct and powerful bloodline ability.

(AN: As noted before, this is not the Caged Bird seal.)

She was running through some motions of her modified Gentle Fist when she saw Hinata step onto the training area.

Hanabi gave no indication that she saw her sister even though Hinata would see through it right away. Hanabi continued practicing, hoping that her sister would just leave.

No such luck.

After a few minutes, her sister came up to her.

Hanabi turned to look at Hinata. "Yes?"

_Slap!_

Hanabi saw it coming from a mile away, but she figured it was best just to get hit. Perhaps if Hinata got some hits in, she would calm down and just go away.

At least that's what Hanabi hoped.

"How _dare_ you steal Naruto from me?!" Hinata hissed. "I should have known you loved him when you started asking specific questions about him a few weeks ago."

"I didn't love him then," Hanabi said simply. "And he didn't and doesn't love me now."

"Don't lie," Hinata snapped. "I know you were sneaking out of the compound at night. I kept silent on it because you were my little sister but I could never have imagined that you were going out to see him!" Hinata glared, "And you just admitted that you love him _now_!"

"Naruto is my fiancé now. I think I'm supposed to love him," Hanabi replied sardonically. "Or at least be falling in love with him."

_Slap!_

"Don't be so smug because you get to marry Naruto!" Hinata cried. "He was supposed to love me!"

Hanabi sighed.

Normally her sister was gentle, kind, and reasonable, but her sister had a bad habit of completely losing it when it came to Naruto.

"But he doesn't," Hanabi said bluntly. "You've had _fifteen_ years to change his mind. He chose Lady Haruno over you. He chose me over you. I would say that his choices should give you a hint about how he feels about you."

Hanabi dodged the next swing. This time Hinata had lunged with chakra flaring on her palms. Hanabi was willing to let Hinata vent, but Hanabi wasn't just going to get severely injured because of her older sister's jealousy.

"You did it!" Hinata cried with tears in her eyes.

"I did what?!" Hanabi yelled back.

"Don't deny it!" Hinata screamed. "I know it! You seduced him somehow so he wouldn't love me! First, it was father's favor. Then it was Naruto's heart! Why is it that you're the one who gets to have everything?! Why can't you just let me have something in this life?!"

Hanabi rapidly slapped away at the wild swings. This hadn't been what she expected when she came out to practice. Still, it was probably better that Hinata get this out of her system now instead of letting the feelings of anger fester into hatred. In spite of it all, Hinata was her sister and Hanabi wanted to remain on relatively good terms.

" Listen to what you're saying! " Hanabi said, trying to calm her sister down. "I didn't do any of this to spite you. I have no reason to hurt you, Big Sister."

"Don't call me that!" Hinata shrieked. "You're no longer a Hyuuga now anyway! We're not family anymore!"

Hanabi's eyes widened in surprise, not from the statement, but from Hinata jumping forward at a much faster speed than she had shown before. Hinata had started twisting in the characteristic motions for the Kaiten.

_There's a tremendous amount of killing intent. She's out for blood!_

Hanabi hadn't been taking the impromptu match very seriously and was completely off balance by that point. If the Kaiten hit from point blank range, she would be seriously hurt. Hanabi just grit her teeth and started expelling as much chakra as she could from her body to form as best of a shield as she could. Against the Kaiten, which involved incredibly rapid rotation of chakra, her using linearly released chakra would be like using butter to protect against a chainsaw. She only hoped that she would be recovered from the injuries she would receive by the time her wedding came around. It would be rather embarrassing to have a wedding with her completely torn up.

"Kaiten!"

Hanabi had expected to be knocked back into the wall, but instead found herself carried bridle style in the arms of a man. She saw black robes and a white cape.

"Naruto!"

"Safe!" she heard Naruto exclaim.

She sighed in relief but still rolled her eyes at his flippant tone.

"I'm not even going to ask how you managed to do that without me or Hinata seeing you with our Byakugan."

Naruto laughed before setting her down on the ground and tapped her on the forehead. She got the hidden message.

_Ah. It must be some fuinjutsu. He did put multiple seals on my forehead. _She furrowed her brows in thoughts. _That sounds remarkably like the Fourth's Hiraishin._

"I don't know what kind of training session you had, but you were legitimately afraid for your life."

Hanabi was unsure how he knew exactly how she felt, but chose not to comment on it. Instead, she just pointed to Hinata, who was looking at them with an irate expression.

"Ah, well. My sister accidentally put too much power into her Kaiten," she said lamely, trying to save Hinata the pain of getting scolded by the man she loved. "I got caught off-guard."

"Uh huh, so that's why it look like someone painted red hands on your cheeks," he said sarcastically, before gently placing his hands on her red cheeks. "Stay still."

Hanabi moaned lightly as the pain from her face faded away. "You know medical ninjutsu?"

"Yes, I know medical ninjutsu. I'll never be anywhere close to being like Shizune," Hanabi noticed the deliberate leaving out of Haruno's name, "but I can hold my own as a medic. I got tired of just killing and wanted to learn something to help other people directly. I never got a chance to use it much since most of my missions are now solo, but you never know when you have the chance to help others."

"I see," Hanabi said as she touched her cheeks lightly. There wasn't even a twinge of pain. Naruto really was competent as a medic. Hanabi figured she shouldn't be surprised by anything from Naruto anymore.

Her fiancé then stood up to fix Hinata with a cold look. "I'm disappointed in you, Hinata."

Her sister's look flashed from angry to regret to despair to misery. Hinata fell onto her knees and broke down into tears. "Naruto?" she cried softly. "Why? Why?"

"Because you're a person who acts in this manner," Naruto said coldly.

Hinata recoiled back as if struck across the face. Even Hanabi had to wince at the biting tone. Naruto really did not mince his words.

"But Naruto, this is all for you!"

Naruto ignored Hinata and turned towards the direction of her home to see someone arrive.

Hanabi saw her father marching towards them, no doubt having heard about the fight from one of the Branch House members who were tending to the grounds.

Naruto glared at her father and swept her in his arms as a show of support. "What is the meaning of this, _Lord Hyuuga_?" Hanabi shivered at the disdain in the tone. Naruto could be scary when he chose to be. "Your very own flesh and blood tried to assassinate my fiancé. Hanabi may be your daughter by blood, but the moment that contract was signed, she was legally of _my_ clan. You may very well end up starting a feud with my clan."

"My apologies, Lord Uzumaki," her father said in a barely controlled voice. Hanabi knew that her father was about to burst with rage. Hanabi looked at Hinata who was still shaking in despair on the ground. "I will control my daughter in the future so as to not antagonize the future matriarch of the Uzumaki clan."

Hanabi stood there stunned. That was the first time she ever saw her father give a direct apology. Normally, her father would use the wealth and power of the Hyuuga to suppress the other party, either with subtle hints of bribes or threats. He _never_ apologized. Her father had told her in the past that apologies were for the weak.

Naruto nodded in satisfaction and said in a softer tone. "Since my fiancé was not hurt, I will not press any charges. However," Naruto's tone became dark.

Hanabi felt a tremendous killing intent saturating the air. Her mind flashed back to the time she was held by the cloaked man.

_It's just like then…no…it's even stronger…It's just not affecting me as much because it's just not directed at me._

Her father gasped and fell on his knees. Hanabi activated her Byakugan again and noticed that all the other clan members around the manor were on their knees as well.

"Your point is understood," her father gasped out. "I already gave you my apologies."

"I know, but this is just insurance," Naruto growled out. "The next time something like this happens, I will personally raze your clan to the ground. Even the Hokage and the entirety of Konoha's forces won't be able to stop me. Believe it."

With that, the killing intent disappeared.

Hanabi just gaped at her fiancé in shock, and then smiled lightly. This was the reason why she agreed to marry him. With him at her side, no one would dare touch her.

As Naruto carried her away, she threw an apologetic look towards at her bawling sister who was now being berated by their father.

_I'm sorry, sister. I really am. I know I don't deserve someone like him. But he's mine now and I'm not going to give him up._

* * *

**Hyuuga Clan Sealing Room, Konoha – March 20, AK 22**

Hiashi never felt more humiliated in his life. In a minute's span, he was forced to apologize, then was driven to his knees, and then had his entire clan threatened. And there was nothing he could do about it.

The killing intent that the Toad Sage had released was immense and reminded him of the last war when the Juubi unleashed its full power.

As a clan head, Hiashi was angry because he had been humiliated for something his eldest did in a fit of foolish jealousy. He didn't even know whether to be pleased that the now Crown Princess had managed to come within a split second of besting the stronger Hanabi in battle because he knew that Uzumaki would have carried out his threat to destroy the Hyuuga clan had the Kaiten hit. Uzumaki was known for weathering any kind of attack to protect his loved ones. Hiashi knew that Uzumaki could kill them all and get away with it.

As a father, he was somewhat happy that his daughter would be married to such a man who had such power and the heart to protect her despite not even loving her but also sad that his two daughters had such enmity between them now.

The clashing feelings just ended up leaving him confused as to how to act. He, the clan elders, the Hokage, his late nephew's teammate Tenten, his daughter, and Uzumaki were in a dark room getting ready for the sealing process.

He noticed with some irritation that the clan elders were looking slightly ill from having been exposed to the killing intent.

"My, my," the Hokage commented as he looked around the room as the girl, Tenten, began drawing a sealing array on the floor. "The tension in the room is quite thick. People might think that we're about to kill someone."

The Hokage chuckled lightly, but no one else seemed to find it amusing. Hiashi glared at the Sixth, daring him to ask what had happened. Hiashi needed something to vent his anger on. He wouldn't yell of course, but perhaps a few threats here and there about certain proposals in the village might send a message to the Hokage that his lame jokes were not appreciated.

"Tenten, here, let me help out," Uzumaki said in an eager tone. Given his expression, no one would have guessed that anything had happened just an hour earlier.

"Naruto," the Sixth admonished lightly. "You can't get involved. This is something that Konoha has to do as a third party witness to your marriage. If you were involved in the sealing, the Hyuuga clan could claim that you were trying to steal the Byakugan."

"Well, then tell Tenten to hurry it up," he grumbled. "It's boring just sitting around and waiting. We've just been watching for like thirty minutes."

"Damn it, Naruto!" the girl scolded. "You have nothing on your schedule today except to eat ramen. Your damn ramen can wait a few minutes."

"Don't insult the ramen, Tenten," Uzumaki yelled while shaking his fist. Hiashi started to twitch in annoyance. The boy could be insufferably annoying at times. "They'll never let you eat them again."

"That would be such a tragedy," came the sarcastic response.

It took everything Hiashi had to remain in control while hearing the inane conversation. Uzumaki was now comparing different ramen flavors to elemental chakra and how not knowing the glory of ramen was like intentionally not using a certain elemental type against another elemental type. How the hell did an idiot become such a force of nature?

And then he saw it. It lasted for less than a second, but his soon-to-be son-in-law had smirked.

_The nerve of that…!_ Hiashi fumed in his mind. Uzumaki was being annoying on _purpose_! His eyes wandered to his daughter who standing next her fiancé and widened. It was almost imperceptible but his daughter was giggling lightly.

"Naruto, do you ever _not_ antagonize the people around you?"

"Nope, then I wouldn't be Naruto Uzumaki."

Hiashi sighed. He had never seen his daughter giggle before. She had always been the perfect child, willing to do whatever it was to become strong. He had initially wondered why the girl didn't want to be a clan head and why the girl so eagerly agreed to marry the Toad Sage.

The answer was right in front of him. His daughter didn't care about the clan. She didn't care about political ambition. She had just used the situation to get out of the Hyuuga clan. She hated the clan so much that she even managed to convince herself that she loved someone she barely knew.

That thought was like a stab to the heart for Hiashi.

"All done! Hanabi, if you can be so kind as to come to the center." Hiashi stared stoically as his daughter lowered the top of her robes to reveal her back.

It didn't show on his face, but it made him feel regret and shame seeing his daughter open up more to a stranger than to her own family.

He had done what he had thought best for his two daughters. He wanted to push them to become strong so that nothing in this world could touch them.

Yet the results were disastrous. His first daughter was emotionally, if not physically, frail and weak. His second daughter wanted nothing to do with her own family.

"Now then, as the Sixth Hokage, I am here to witness a formal marriage alliance between the Hyuuga clan and the Uzumaki clan. This bloodline limiter seal will prevent the passing of the Byakugan into the Uzumaki clan and can never be removed. With this, the last legal requirement of the contract will have been fulfilled. Objections?"

"None," Hiashi spoke succinctly.

"Nope, none from me. Now hurry it up. The ramen is calling to me."

The room was silent after that. After a few moments, the Hokage nodded to the sealing girl.

"Activate!"

Hiashi's thought back to this first daughter who was now crying in her room. He let out a sigh that no one heard over the loud activation of the seal. He had made too many mistakes as a father. Now it was time he started fixing them.

* * *

**Karin's Quarters, Land of the Moon – March 20, AK 22**

"Karin," a voice said out of nowhere.

Karin jumped as she rushed to cover herself before realizing that it was her husband. Karin wanted to grumble about Sasuke's abuse of the space-time ninjutsu. Knowing her husband, he probably did it to flaunt his power over her.

She considered putting on her clothes and then mentally grinned. "Sasuke, little Itachi just fell asleep."

She hoped that her husband would understand what she meant by that.

Sasuke smiled lightly, showing that he understood, but then shook his head. "Not now. I need a status report first."

Karin frowned. It was always business with her husband. She just wished that he would quit this little crusade of his and settle down. It was just unnecessary danger for all of them—for him, for her, and for little Itachi.

"Well, King Michiru tried to betray us. He tried to send his wife to Getsuga and his son to the main continent. We suspect the destination was Konoha. Luckily, we intercepted both of them. Getsuga doesn't know of our plans here and I doubt that Konoha does either. Currently we're keeping the two as hostages to ensure Michiru's obedience."

"I see."

"What about you? What have you been up to for the last few weeks?"

"Naruto is getting married."

"What?!" Karin said in shock. "To your old pink-haired teammate?"

Karin secretly hoped that the girl would marry Naruto. It would get her out of the picture once and for all. While Karin had the first victory by marrying Sasuke, she was still deathly afraid that he would abandon her one day. She still carried those horrible memories of when he had stabbed her with his Chidori Spear. Granted, he had been under the influence of the Uchiha Curse of Hatred, but it was still a traumatizing experience for her.

Sasuke frowned. Karin could see that he was carefully choosing his words. "It appears that Konoha has declared her dead," he finally said.

"She's dead?" Karin would have smiled and danced had she not realized that it would have been rather ridiculous. Especially since she was still naked. "Did you kill her?" Karin asked hopefully.

"In any case, that's irrelevant," Sasuke replied curtly. "Naruto is getting married to the second-born princess of the Hyuuga clan."

"Interesting," Karin muttered, not forgetting the fact that Saskue didn't answer her question. "That's quite a powerful bloodline couple right there. Their child will be the same as Itachi."

"Yes," Sasuke frowned, "Like Itachi, any children they have will have the blood of both sons of Sage Rikudo."

"We're both closer relatives to the Sage than either of them," Karin reassured Sasuke. "Naruto doesn't even have the characteristic red hair of the Uzumaki clan. That already shows that his Uzumaki blood has thinned out considerably."

Sasuke shook his head. "That is of little consequence. If the child becomes powerful enough, the surge in chakra can force the dormant genes of the Sage to become activated. That is how the Sharingan works after all. For the members of the Uchiha clan, the surge in chakra from a dangerous situation activates the genes to turn on the Sharingan for the first time. People were also able to activate the Sharingan once they became strong enough from normal training as well."

"So what are you saying? Are you saying that their child will be just as strong as Itachi?"

"Perhaps," Sasuke admitted, "Naruto is proving to be more of a threat than I thought. He's annoyed me for far too long. Every step of the way, he's right there behind me."

"Are you going to go after him?" she asked carefully. While she was confident that her husband would emerge victorious, a battle between the two was something she did not want to witness.

Sasuke shook his head. "No, not yet. There is no need to kill him unless he interferes with my plans. I need to train more with the Gelel flux before I make a decisive move."

Karin groaned and decided to vent her building frustrations.

Her damn husband was always killing the mood with his talks about training, training, and more training. "It's always _training_ with you. When are you going to pay attention to your own son? What about me? Do you not care for us at all?"

Karin saw the fierce glare from her husband as he raised his hand to strike her before calming down. Karin looked at him fearfully. Ever since they had gotten married, Sasuke had _never_ struck her. He must be more on edge than she thought.

"Karin, you know as well as I that I love my son as much as any father would. There is a reason I named him after the person who loved me more than the entire world."

"But you're always traveling around! You never make time for Itachi and me! _I_ need something more than a statement like 'you are useful to me, Karin.' I need your presence and your love!"

The look remained cold. "I already warned you about this. I do not love you. Nor will I ever love you. My companionship for you is all I can offer. You yourself were fine with this agreement as long as I let you become my wife. What changed?"

"But, Sasuke!" she protested, but couldn't say anything else. What he had said was true. He had made it perfectly clear from day one that he had no intention of loving her. He would care for her and take care of her, but he would not love her. "Sorry, you're right."

His eyes softened. "Is it not enough that you are the mother of my child?" he asked. "This isn't about you. Romantic love is just not something for me. I live for a purpose greater than love, Karin. Until that purpose is fulfilled, I will not allow myself to be distracted by anything else. I am sorry that it is painful for you, but it is something you accepted for yourself."

"I…" she stammered before letting her head down, "I understand. Sorry I overreacted. I know how much this crusade means to you. It's just that I have my own needs and it sometimes goes against what you're doing."

"I understand that and accept that you might be demanding at times," Sasuke allowed. "But nothing will get in my way."

Karin nodded sadly. "Yeah. I know. I'll do my best to support you. I love you."

"I…thanks, Karin." She looked up when she felt his arms around her. "Just wait for me. Once I am finished, I promised that you will be my only purpose in life. Just wait…"

"I will. I can wait forever." Karin smiled lightly as she hugged him back. She would make him love her. She would heal his heart. It would be _her_ purpose in life.

"Now then, I believe you were rather excited for something earlier."

* * *

**Hokage Monument, Konoha – March 20, AK 22**

It was a cool dark evening with a clear sky. Naruto found himself sitting on top of the Fourth Hokage's head quite a lot this past week to take a trip down memory lane. As a young child, he had been up here often, shouting to the winds that he'd become Hokage and gain the villagers' acknowledgement.

_How foolish I was when I was a young child, _Naruto thought. _Fights, battles, wars are all fought because someone felt that they weren't acknowledged. _

It was true. A daimyo or a kage would consider something a slight and then rage over it before attacking in "retaliation." Or a daimyo or kage would want to prove a point and try to bully another country, setting off a war.

"It's sad that this world revolves purely around gaining at the expense of others," Naruto murmured to himself. People tried to make themselves feel slightly better about themselves by mistreating the Kyuubi boy. Then after Naruto proved himself, people tried to rely on him as a rock that would never collapse to feel secure in their own safety.

He snorted before realizing that someone had arrived. It wasn't Hanabi. He could feel the shadow step seal on her forehead a few kilometers away.

Naruto closed his eyes for about half a minute before feeling himself enter into Sage Mode. _Ah so that's who it is…_

"Hinata," he said, "why don't you join me? The view is nice."

He heard footsteps. "Why her?"

Naruto didn't bother turning back. The girl was obviously in tears and he just didn't want to deal with it. He was too emotionally tired from his own problems to attend to those of another person. "Is that what you want to ask?" he inquired, "or are you trying to ask why I didn't pick you? Those are two very different questions."

He noted that the girl just stood back a meter or so away, not feeling comfortable enough to join him. "I loved you. I risked my life for you. I would have done anything to make you happy. Why couldn't you have picked me?"

"Hinata," Naruto said slowly, "if I chose you, do you think that it would have changed a thing?" Naruto shook his head. "Sure, you might have shared my bed. But, I don't think I would have ever returned your love. Could you have lived with that? Wouldn't it be torture seeing me day and night but knowing that I didn't love you?"

"But that could have changed!" Hinata protested. "I would have made you fall in love with me. I would have—"

"Just how would you have done that?" Naruto interrupted, as he looked down at the village in slight distaste. "Admiration? There are a lot of girls that admire me now. The fact that you admired me for so long doesn't make you special."

"But you gave me my nindo. You inspired me to become stronger. You're someone special to me."

"And I'm glad I was able to touch your life in that manner. But let me ask you this, Hinata," Naruto replied in a sad tone, "what does that have to do with me? I affected you, great. But how did you change my life?"

Naruto winced when he heard the gasp. His words just now were probably like a slap to the face. But he had to make his point. He did not love her.

"I…I…I risked my life for you! That's something no one else can claim," Hinata argued. "Even Sakura! Even someone like Sakura ended up being protected by you. But Naruto, I would have protected you!"

"Sorry, Hinata," Naruto sighed. The girl just wasn't getting the message. "I don't need protection. I don't need admiration."

"Is it strength?" she asked softly. "Was I simply too weak for an amazing person like you? Is that why you chose my sister, an incredibly strong girl? You couldn't have Sakura, so you went for the next strongest, the next best—"

"Hinata," Naruto lightly admonished, "you shouldn't talk about your sister like she's my second choice. I know that you're disappointed and hurt, but Hanabi didn't have a choice in this so don't blame her."

"But she wanted it! I saw it in her eyes! She loves you! Even knowing that I loved you, she fell in love with you!"

Naruto was a bit taken aback by that. Was Hanabi really in love with him or was this Hinata just being unreasonable? He knew the girl was beginning to have feelings for him, but love? Naruto shook his head. Their time together had been too short for something like love. It was probably infatuation at best.

"You're wrong, Hinata," Naruto flatly responded. "She doesn't love me. She loves what I can offer to her. You know your sister better than I do. By marrying me, she can escape being sealed and escape the rigid Hyuuga clan. She never wanted to be clan head like you do so it was her way to passing off the baton to you without a fight."

"Clan head?" Hinata repeated.

Naruto sighed again. It was time to pull out the big guns. "Hinata, if we had gotten married, you might have convinced yourself that you were happy with me. But you would have lost your purpose in life. Was it not your goal to keep your promise to Neji and unite the two branches of your clan? I knew you loved me but even without the other reasons I gave you, I still couldn't have picked you because I would have been the reason you lost something dear to your heart."

"But Naruto, you're dearer to my heart! I would have gladly—"

"No," Naruto said firmly. "And that's exactly why I couldn't. I am an obstacle to you. I ran more high rank missions than I care to count in the last few years. There were many days where I wanted to rest. But I couldn't rest no matter how much I wanted to because it would distract me from my ultimate goal of wanting to protect those I love in Konoha. I am like that to you. I am the distraction on the road that you have to ignore in order to fulfill your goal."

"B…b…but!"

"I know it hurts, but you have to get over me. You have to become a good clan head and bring a new era to the Hyuuga clan. Hinata," Naruto said seriously as he stood and faced the crying girl, "love is fleeting, but purpose is forever. You said your nindo is fashioned after mine. Well, then don't give up your dream of being clan head."

"We could have figured something out…I know it! I could have remained the clan head and still married you—"

"…and doomed Hanabi a life with the Caged Bird Seal on her forehead," Naruto finished for her. "You know as well as I do that the Caged Bird Seal cannot be removed by any known means once it is placed. Even if you had changed the clan, your sister still would have been trapped forever. I know you aren't so selfish to seek good only for yourself. Be happy that your sister achieved her own dream of leaving the Hyuuga clan."

"But it's just not fair!"

"Life isn't really fair," Naruto shook his head, annoyed with himself that he used such a cliché saying, "I never asked to be hated as a child. But people hated me anyway. I just dealt with it. So must you."

"But Naruto, I'm _not_ you. I'm not as strong as you are. The only good thing about me is my love for you."

"Didn't you say you love me?"

Hinata nodded. "I do."

"And you said that you're willing to do anything to make me happy, right?"

Another nod. "A…anything!"

"Then get over me," Naruto said in a flat tone.

Hinata gasped. "But I can't!"

"Then you're not willing to make me happy?" Naruto asked. The girl gave no response. "See Hinata, you desire my love more than you desire my happiness. You love me _too_ much. Your love for me isn't as pure and good as you think."

"Then what would you have me do?"

"Whatever you want," Naruto suggested. "But I'm not going to suddenly fall in love with you. So I think you should at least try to figure out how to function even if you still have feelings for me. For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

"I…I…Naruto…it still hurts so much," the girl sobbed, "but I will do my best to move on with life. For you. But I don't think I can ever stop loving you."

Naruto gave a sad smile. "Then how do you expect me to start loving you? Matters of the heart are not so easily controlled. I wish I _could_ love you, but the world just doesn't work that way. There were many days that I wish I didn't love Sakura whenever she would scream at me and hit me. But I still did and I suffered for it. The heart is something harder to move than the largest mountains."

"I know that more than you could ever understand, Naruto," Hinata sniffed.

Naruto looked at her gently. "Like I said, I understand how you feel. So I won't demand anything of you in terms of your feelings for me. Just don't have resentment towards your sister, okay?"

The girl nodded sadly. "Alright. I'll be taking my leave then." With that the girl slowly walked away.

Naruto would have let out a huge sigh of relief had he not known that another person had watched and heard most of the conversation.

Sage Mode was rather useful for sensing.

"You handled that fairly well."

"Ino, don't you have better things to do than search for things to gossip about?"

"You're just like Shikamaru in that regard. Both of you are always insulting me and assuming I'm just out to gather tidbits to talk to my friends about."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Then tell me that's not true."

"It's not," returned the other girl with a straight face. "I can keep secrets quite well."

Naruto's mood instantly plummeted. Ino, Shizune, Shikamaru, and Kakashi may have believed that they were so clever, but he wasn't fooled by their tricks to manipulate him.

"Oh, I'm sure," he said in a low and dangerous tone that almost sounded like a hiss. "You mean like the secret that Sakura is still alive."

"How did you—" the girl responded with a shocked look before realizing that she was only confirming his allegation.

"Get the hell out of here, Ino."

"How did you know?!" The girl asked, not even caring that she was now revealing a village secret.

Naruto turned around to face the village again. The village that constantly lied to and hurt him every chance it got. He could feel every single chakra signal in the village and found that almost everyone else was with a relative or a friend. It just reminded him how truly alone he was.

"I am a Sage. That's enough for me to know."

He was an S-rank, now respected by the village, but he was still alone. Alone to fight the injustice of the world.

The villagers slept easy from his sacrifice and the blood of those outside the walls of Konoha. But their ill-gotten peace would not last for much longer. Naruto would personally see to that himself.

Konoha.

Konoha was rotten.

Konoha was filled with thieves.

Thieves who did not pay the price for their peace.

* * *

**Hokage's Office, Konoha – March 20, AK 22**

"Lord Hokage!"

Kakashi lifted his head from his work to see Ino Yamanaka charging into his office. "Yes?"

"N…N…Naruto," she gasped out before taking deep breaths. "Privacy seals!"

He raised his visible eyebrow as he activated the seals, preventing even the ANBU guarding his room from hearing the conversation. "What about him?"

"He knows!" she panted. "He knows that Sakura is alive!"

Kakashi felt as if someone punched him. "What? How does he know that?"

Ino shook her head, "He didn't explain. He just said that it had something to with him being a Sage."

Kakashi was panicking. Was there some way that Sage Mode sensed others? Even skilled sensors couldn't sense passed the seals on the hospital wall. So how did Naruto figure it out? There were fewer than ten people who know about Sakura's condition.

"Did he appear," Kakashi had to pause and gulp in fear, "angry?"

Kakashi knew that one of the things Naruto hated the most was important relevant information kept from him. Naruto still refused to acknowledge that the decisions to hide information about his parents and the Kyuubi were correct.

And once again, Naruto would be angry that they kept Sakura's condition a secret. First, Naruto would not understand that they had to fool Naruto to get any intel about the attacker. Second, the attacker might choose to attack Sakura _again _if he or she knew that Sakura was alive. Third, Naruto's "amazing" solution to that second problem would have been to stay next to Sakura all the time. He would never and would never want to understand that his missions out on the field were more valuable than emotional support to his girlfriend.

Ino nodded.

Kakashi sighed. As expected, Naruto was angry.

"What do we do, Lord Hokage?" Ino asked desperately. "He must have found out recently; otherwise, he wouldn't have agreed to marry Hanabi. He probably would have tried to wait until Sakura got better."

Kakashi didn't reply immediately. If Naruto was able to sense Sakura, then why didn't he break her out? Maybe Naruto just took a shot in the dark and confirmed it with Ino's reaction. He definitely could not see his student agree to another marriage while Sakura was alive. Naruto probably would have considered the marriage contract null the moment he found out that he was being deceived. So _what was going on_?

"I'm not so sure about that. He didn't bring up the issue with me so he must be playing along for now. Maybe Naruto saw the wisdom in keeping her condition a secret." _I hope_, he added mentally.

"That really doesn't sound like Naruto," Ino whispered worriedly. "He never thought too far ahead. He's insightful at times and can be really clever, but self-control was never one of his strong suits!"

Kakashi had to agree with the assessment. Despite his hopes that Naruto was maturing, Kakashi just couldn't see Naruto being too accepting.

Kakashi groaned. Naruto was becoming more and more of a headache. Naruto had always been easy to figure out, but his blond student was slowly becoming a mystery now.

Kakashi decided to merely watch for now and hope that things turned out for the best.

At the very least, Naruto would never betray the village. That was one thing he and Konoha could always count on. He was always willing to pay the necessary price for others.

* * *

AN: Clearly, the last chapter was a bad idea. I deeply apologize for the horrible content I made all of you read. Haha.

But as warned, you had to deal with at least one more chapter with filler content. But I limited to only one scene and instead inserted material from the _next_ chapter.

So now I have to figure out a way to increase meaningful content in the next chapter. Ugh. I never should have messed with my outline.

lol - the moral of the story: fillers are horrible, even though those fillers are going to be somewhat relevant in the future.

But since I'm immature, I'm going to throw a temper tantrum. I'm not going to update until I reach three digits in reviews, favorites, and updates (Honestly, this is just more of an excuse not to have to finalize the next chapter for a while - this story somehow reaches three digits for all three categories within a day, I'm kind of screwed lol).

Oh, that reminds me...since this is the tenth chapter, as promised, here are the stats of the characters. None of the numbers are really important for the story, so feel free to skip them. It's just for those who really like power levels and stuff.

Remember, these are Konoha's listings and therefore are not true measurements of strength in certain cases. I could have given the _real_ numbers, but part of the point of this story is that you _don't_ know exactly how strong people are.

* * *

**_Data Book on Konoha Ninjas_**

General Number Listings

0 to 1 = D-rank (average 4, range 0-8)

1 to 2 = C-rank (average 12, range 8-16)

2 to 3 = B-rank (average 20, range 16-24)

3 to 4 = A rank (average 28, range 24-32)

4 to 5 = S rank (average 36, range 32-40)

5+ = one of a kind, you can think of the + as one or even two points

* * *

**_Konoha Military Leaders (in order of rank)_**

**Kakashi Hatake (Copy Ninja) – Rank S **

Status: Alive

Official Rank: Elite Jounin, Kage

Battle stats: Intelligence = 4.5 | Strength = 3.75 | Speed = 4.75 | Chakra Levels/Stamina = 3.25 | Chakra Control/Hand Signs = 4.5

Skill stats: Ninjutsu = 5 | Genjutsu = 4.25 | Taijutsu = 4

Total: 34

_Special Notes: Sharingan, Sixth Hokage, Dog Contract, Space-Time Ninjutsu_

**Dragon (Identity Redacted) – Rank A**

Status: Alive

Official Rank: Elite Jounin, ANBU Commander

Battle stats: Intelligence = 5 | Strength = 2.5 | Speed = 3.25 | Chakra Levels/Stamina = 3.25 | Chakra Control/Hand Signs = 4.5

Skill stats: Ninjutsu = 4.5 | Genjutsu = 4 | Taijutsu = 3

Total: 30

_Special Notes: Redacted_

**Shizune – Rank A**

Status: Alive

Official Rank: Elite Jounin, Supply & Relief Head, Hokage's assistant

Battle stats: Intelligence = 4 | Strength = 2.25 | Speed = 2.25 | Chakra Levels/Stamina = 2.5 | Chakra Control/Hand Signs = 4.5

Skill stats: Ninjutsu = 3 | Genjutsu = 3.5 | Taijutsu = 2.5

Total: 24.5

_Special Notes: Medical Ninjutsu, Poison_

**Ino Yamanaka – Rank A**

Status: Alive

Official Rank: Elite Jounin, Communications Head

Battle stats: Intelligence = 3.5 | Strength = 2 | Speed = 2.5 | Chakra Levels/Stamina = 2.5 | Chakra Control/Hand Signs = 4

Skill stats: Ninjutsu = 4 | Genjutsu = 4 | Taijutsu = 2

Total: 24.5

_Special Notes: Medical Ninjutsu, Poison, Uses mental attacks_

* * *

**_Senior Operatives – Elite Jounin_**

**Naruto (Golden Sun) – Rank S**

Status: Alive

Official Rank: Elite Jounin, Toad Sage

Battle stats: Intelligence = 2.5 | Strength = 5+ | Speed = 5+ | Chakra Levels/Stamina = 5+ | Chakra Control/Hand Signs = 2.5

Skill stats: Ninjutsu = 5+ | Genjutsu = 1.5 | Taijutsu = 4.5

Total: 31++++ (note: numerical total VASTLY underestimates fighting ability, see + values)

_Special Notes: Chakra of the Kyuubi, Toad Sage, Fuinjutsu_

_Instructions: Apologize for whatever was done to escape – subject is highly idealistic and forgiving_

**Hanabi Hyuuga – Rank A**

Status: Alive

Official Rank: Elite Jounin

Battle stats: Intelligence = 4 | Strength = 2.25 | Speed = 3.75 | Chakra Levels/Stamina = 3 | Chakra Control/Hand Signs = 4.5

Skill stats: Ninjutsu = 3 | Genjutsu = 2.5 | Taijutsu = 4.5

Total: 27.5

_Special Notes: Byakugan_

**Konohamaru Sarutobi – Rank A**

Status: Alive

Official Rank: Elite Jounin

Battle stats: Intelligence = 2.5 | Strength = 4 | Speed = 4 | Chakra Levels/Stamina = 4 | Chakra Control/Hand Signs = 3

Skill stats: Ninjutsu = 4 | Genjutsu = 2 | Taijutsu = 4

Total: 27.5

_Special Notes: Monkey Contract_

* * *

**_Jounin – B-rank or higher in all categories_**

**Shikamaru Nara – Rank B**

Status: Alive

Official Rank: Jounin

Battle stats: Intelligence = 5+ | Strength = 2.5 | Speed = 2.25 | Chakra Levels/Stamina = 2.25 | Chakra Control/Hand Signs = 3.5

Skill stats: Ninjutsu = 3 | Genjutsu = 3 | Taijutsu = 2

Total: 23.5

_Special Notes: IQ of 212, Deer Contract, Uses shadow to fight_

**Hinata Hyuuga – Rank B**

Status: Alive

Official Rank: Jounin

Battle stats: Intelligence = 3.5 | Strength = 2 | Speed = 3 | Chakra/Stamina = 2 | Chakra Control/Hand Signs = 4.5

Skill stats: Ninjutsu = 2 | Genjutsu = 2 | Taijutsu = 4

Total: 23

_Special Notes: Byakugan_

**Shino Aburame – Rank B**

Status: Alive

Official Rank: Jounin

Battle stats: Intelligence = 4.5 | Strength = 2 | Speed = 2.5 | Chakra/Stamina = 2 | Chakra Control/Hand Signs = 3.5

Skill stats: Ninjutsu = 2.5 | Genjutsu = 2.5 | Taijutsu = 2.5

Total: 22

_Special Notes: Kikaichu_

**Tenten – Rank B**

Status: Alive

Official Rank: Jounin

Battle stats: Intelligence = 3 | Strength = 2.5 | Speed = 2.75 | Chakra/Stamina = 2 | Chakra Control/Hand Signs = 2.5

Skill stats: Ninjutsu = 2.5 | Genjutsu = 2.5 | Taijutsu = 3.25

Total: 21 (note: numerical total underestimates fighting ability, see special notes)

_Special Notes: Fuinjutsu, Master at all forms of weaponry, Can fight at all ranges_

* * *

**_Special Jounin – B-rank or higher in some categories _**

**Rock Lee (Wild Green Beast) – Rank A**

Status: Alive

Official Rank: Special Jounin

Battle stats: Intelligence = 3 | Strength = 5+ | Speed = 5+ | Chakra/Stamina = 5 | Chakra Control/Hand Signs = 0

Skill stats: Ninjutsu = 0 | Genjutsu = 0 | Taijutsu = 5+

Total: 23+++ (note: numerical total vastly underestimates fighting ability, see + values)

_Special Notes: Can open up to six of the Inner Gates, Inability to use chakra_

**Kiba Inuzuka – Rank B**

Status: Alive

Official Rank: Special Jounin

Battle stats: Intelligence = 2.5 | Strength = 3.5 | Speed = 4.5 | Chakra/Stamina = 3 | Chakra Control/Hand Signs = 1.5

Skill stats: Ninjutsu = 3 | Genjutsu = 1.5 | Taijutsu = 3.5

Total: 23

_Special Notes: Partnered with a ninja dog, incredible sense of smell_

**Chouji Akimichi – Rank B**

Status: Alive

Official Rank: Special Jounin

Battle stats: Intelligence = 3 | Strength = 5 | Speed = 2 | Chakra/Stamina = 3 | Chakra Control/Hand Signs = 2

Skill stats: Ninjutsu = 3.5 | Genjutsu = 1.5 | Taijutsu = 3

Total: 23

_Special Notes: Akimichi Food Pills may drastically improve fighting ability_

* * *

**_Missing / Deceased_**

**Sakura Haruno – Rank A**

Status: Deceased

Official Rank: Jounin, former Supply & Relief Head

Battle stats: Intelligence = 4 | Strength = 5+ | Speed = 3.25 | Chakra Levels/Stamina = 2.5 | Chakra Control/Hand Signs = 5

Skill stats: Ninjutsu = 3.5 | Genjutsu = 4.25 | Taijutsu = 3.5

Total: 31+

_Special Notes: Medical Ninjutsu, Incredible Strength, Poison_

**Taichi Io – Rank C**

Status: Deceased

Official Rank: Chuunin

Battle stats: Intelligence = 1.5 | Strength = 1.0 | Speed = 1.0 | Chakra/Stamina = 1.5 | Chakra Control/Hand Signs = 1.5

Skill stats: Ninjutsu = 1.5 | Genjutsu = 1.0 | Taijutsu = 2

Total: 11

_Special Notes: None_

* * *

**_Foreigners_**

**Ē – Rank S **

Status: Alive

Official Rank: Jounin, Kage

Battle stats: Intelligence = 3.5 | Strength = 5 | Speed = 5+ | Chakra Levels/Stamina = 5+ | Chakra Control/Hand Signs = 3.5

Skill stats: Ninjutsu = 5 | Genjutsu = 2.5 | Taijutsu = 4.5

Total: 34++

_Special Notes: Capable of Incredible Speeds, Nearly Impenetrable Lightning Armor, Fourth Raikage_

**Darui – Rank S **

Status: Alive

Official Rank: Jounin

Battle stats: Intelligence = 4 | Strength = 4.5 | Speed = 4 | Chakra Levels/Stamina = 4.5 | Chakra Control/Hand Signs = 4

Skill stats: Ninjutsu = 5 | Genjutsu = 2.5 | Taijutsu = 4

Total: 32.5

_Special Notes: Black Lightning, Storm Release_

* * *

**_Threats_**

**Kokuten – Rank S **

Status: Unknown (suspected to be Sasuke Uchiha)

Official Rank: Unknown

Battle stats: Intelligence = 4 | Strength = 5 | Speed = 5+ | Chakra Levels/Stamina = 5+ | Chakra Control/Hand Signs = 4

Skill stats: Ninjutsu = 5+ | Genjutsu = 5 | Taijutsu = 5

Total: An estimate value of 38+++

_Special Notes: Fuinjutsu, Space-Time Ninjutsu_

_Instructions: Flee on Sight!_

**Sasuke Uchiha – Rank S (last seen 5 years ago)**

Status: Unknown

Official Rank: Genin, Honorably Discharged from Konoha

Battle stats: Intelligence = 4 | Strength = 3 | Speed = 4.5 | Chakra Levels/Stamina = 3 | Chakra Control/Hand Signs = 4

Skill stats: Ninjutsu = 5 | Genjutsu = 5+ | Taijutsu = 4

Total: 32.5+

_Special Notes: Sharingan, Space-Time Ninjutsu, Hawk Contract, Skillset from FIVE years ago _

_Instructions: Do not Engage!_

**Juugo – Rank A (last seen 5 years ago)**

Status: Unknown

Official Rank: None

Battle stats: Intelligence = 4 | Strength = 5+ | Speed = 4 | Chakra Levels/Stamina = 5 | Chakra Control/Hand Signs = 1.5

Skill stats: Ninjutsu = 2.5 | Genjutsu = 1.5 | Taijutsu = 3.5

Total: 27+ (note: numerical total vastly underestimates fighting ability, see special notes)

_Special Notes: Alternate Personality is a Berserker, Tremendous Durability and Strength, Skillset from FIVE years ago_

**Karin Uchiha – Rank B (last seen 5 years ago)**

Status: Unknown

Official Rank: Chuunin, Former Oto ninja

Battle stats: Intelligence = 4 | Strength = 1.5 | Speed = 1.5 | Chakra Levels/Stamina = 3.5 | Chakra Control/Hand Signs = 3.5

Skill stats: Ninjutsu = 2.5 | Genjutsu = 2.5 | Taijutsu = 1.5

Total: 20.5

_Special Notes: Sensor, Medic, Skillset from FIVE years ago_


	11. Memory Lane - Naruto & Sakura

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. This is fanfiction, after all.

* * *

This isn't a _real_ chapter but I decided post up a "flashback" chapter because the story has had very little action for a while. It's not filler. It's relevant and somewhat important to the story. It's just not relevant to _this _arc.

I understand that this may make a lot of people unhappy. But hey, it's still not at 100+ reviews, 100+ favorites, and 100+ follows (which gives me more time to edit the next chapter lol), so technically, I _shouldn't_ post _anything_ up. To make it up to you though, the real next chapter will be posted in two or three days, regardless of the count. In the meantime, enjoy this flashback chapter.

* * *

**Unknown, Unknown – Unknown**

_Where am I?_

The pink-haired girl looked around her.

Everything was bright white. There were no roads, buildings, or even trees. Just an expanse of white.

_Who am I?_

Images started flashing around her. She saw herself getting picked on by bullies. She saw a blond girl offering her hand in friendship. She saw herself with a blond boy and a black-haired boy arguing. She saw the same blond boy taking multiple death blows for her. Again and again.

And again.

And yet again.

_Who is that boy? Why do I feel such warmth coming from him?_

Then the images started to show the black-haired boy. In battle, he was elegant, efficient, and cool with very little expression on his face. He was handsome and noble, looking like Kami's gift to man. Yet, when she approached him in the visions, he ignored her and put her down.

She could feel herself tearing up as she watch.

_Who is he? He feels so cold and cruel? Yet, I can't seem to pull myself away from him. Even just looking at him, I…I want his acceptance._

Her mind slowly started to come into focus.

_That's right. My name is Sakura. Sakura Haruno. What happened to make me like this? I can't remember much of anything else. All the details are too fuzzy. Where is Naruto? Why isn't he here to save me?_

The images in front of her started to warp again to plunge her into one of her memories.

* * *

**Desert Stadium, Suna – June 9, AK 17**

As with all Chuunin Exams, the one held in Suna was held in three parts. The 17-year-old Naruto had been paired with 14-year-old Mimi Tajiri and Hideki Fuyutsuki. The two genins weren't anywhere near as talented as the famed "Rookie Nine" were in the past, but they were far too talented to waste away in the basic program. The basic program was designed to produce average ninja and Tajiri and Fuyutsuki both had the potential to reach special jounin or even jounin.

Naruto lacked two teammates to take the Chuunin Exams and they lacked one, so it made sense to group them together.

Kiba spoke up from next to her as they looked at the mega screen showing what was going on below them. "It was almost unfair how Team One is dominating the competition."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I think you mean it was unfair how _Naruto_ is dominating."

Kiba laughed. "Well, yeah, but it's not just him. Those two genin are something else. Their parents were idiots for sending them to the basic program without even giving them a chance to have a jounin instructor."

Sakura wasn't too sure. Kiba was correct in his assessment about their potential, but they had only reached the finals of the Chuunin Exams without receiving a single scratch because Naruto had carried the other two with him.

She smiled as she remembered the first exam.

_Flashback_

_Suna never cared about academics like Konoha did, so the first part had been a test to find and destroy a puppet carrying a scroll among three hundred puppets. The catch was that they were allowed only one hit. It was a test of both espionage—to find the correct puppet—and power to destroy a puppet with one hit. Most teams had taken the full hour to try and determine which puppet to attack._

_Naruto had brushed off Tajiri's and Fuyutsuki's attempt to come up with a plan. _

_She watched Naruto claim he had a "great idea" through the giant screen in the jounin lounge in Suna._

_She saw Naruto motion several hand signs. _

_"Wait, Uzumaki!"_

_"Don't be so rash."_

_Sakura smacked herself on the head as she saw Naruto ignore his teammates. "Wind Release: Divine Twister!"_

_The screen went blank as sand and wind rose up around the team and covered the entire grounds._

_"Naruto," she groaned as all the jounin around her fell over in shock at the power of his technique. "You're always such an idiot!"_

_The wind and sand cleared to reveal that all three hundred puppets had been destroyed. Technically, Naruto had only used one move to destroy the puppet, so he and his team was passed._

_Gaara had looked a bit annoyed that Naruto had intentionally exploited a loophole, but couldn't do anything about it._

_End Flashback_

Naruto had done something similar in the second exam, which required delivering a jug of water to the proper destination in the blistering heat of the desert surrounding Suna. The jar had to be filled with pure water and not water laced with chakra. The jars were only half filled and the idea had been to force teams into fighting to fill their own jugs. The heat would slowly evaporate the water and the fighting would occasionally break the jars. The test was designed to be brutal since the trip to the destination took two days. Ninjas were only allowed to bring exactly two days' worth of water to drink. Ninjas _could_ use the water they had to fill up the rest of the jug, but they would be left with none to drink and would die.

But Naruto had done just that. Naruto had simply taken all the water he and his team had on them and filled the jug the top. He then entered Kyuubi Mode and raced to the destination in less than two hours, avoiding all the other teams. It probably had helped that no one had really wanted to face Naruto after what he did in the first exam.

"In any case, they're no longer in a team anymore. Everyone is on his or her own now," Shikamaru drawled out as Chouji munched on chips next to him. "So you don't have to worry about those two taking all of Naruto's credit."

Sakura blushed at having been caught. "I wasn't worried about that," she lied.

"Right," Shikamaru snorted. "Just give it up and admit you care about him."

She froze. She _did_ care about Naruto. But she didn't like him in that manner. He was just her close friend, her teammate. In spite of everything, her heart still belonged to Sasuke.

"I do," she said in a soft voice. "You should know that I do by now. He's protected me and helped me so much that I won't be able to repay him even if I gave him my life."

"I wasn't telling you to go out with him," Shikamaru said in an annoyed tone. "Why do all you girls read into comments like that? So damn troublesome."

Her anger flared. "Well, excuse _me_, Shikamaru! Maybe it's because everyone else is always badgering me about how I should give up on Sasuke and go for Naruto, especially now that Naruto's the village hero."

"I can't believe that you're still caught up with that bastard," Kiba growled. "He left the village _again_. Just give up on him!"

"I have!" she yelled back. "I know a future with him is impossible. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to like Naruto all of a sudden! My life is not just tied to those two."

"Nobody said it was," Shikamaru groaned while clasping his ears on his ears to block out the sound. "You're the one who's overreacting."

Chouji stopped eating to give her a pointed look. "Believe it or not, we've been telling Naruto to get over you for a long time now. So we're not trying to force you to start dating him."

"So don't blame us for what Ino says," Shikamaru said while leaning back in his chair to look at the clouds.

"Hey! They're starting!"

"We would like to thank everyone for coming to watch the Thirty-Eighth Unified Chuunin Selection Exams, hosted by Suna!"

Cheers went up all around them.

It had already been nineteen years after the Third Shinobi World War. Before then, each village had its own separate sets of exams. The Third Shinobi World War had led to the creation of a unified set of exams to foster relations between the villages and a forum to vent frustrations. The term "unified" didn't mean anything, however. In the past, Kumo, Kiri, and Iwa rarely participated in the ones that Konoha or Suna and vice versa.

"Aren't you ever going to make a move?" Chouji asked, while gesturing to Temari who had made the announcment.

"Too lazy," Shikamaru drawled.

"So you're admitting you like her?" Kiba said with a smirk.

"He does but he's just too lazy to admit it," Chouji chortled. "Don't bother asking."

"You like them older, huh?" Kiba leered.

Sakura punched him to wipe the stupid look off his face. She growled. Men were such pigs.

"There you guys are!"

They all turned to see Ino. "Hey, Ino," Kiba waved eagerly, miraculously healed from her punch. Sakura was always confused how that happened. Any damage guys incurred while being a pervert healed up in a few seconds. "We're just trying to get Shikamaru to start dating Temari."

Shikamaru groaned. "Kiba, stop being such an idiot. It's not happening. She's from another village."

"That's not what I heard the last time I asked," Ino said with a glint in her eyes. Sakura laughed at the predatory look her best friend got on her face. "I thought you said she was a troublesome girl and you'd die before marrying her."

"That wasn't a lie, Ino," he said with his eyes closed. "Temari's troublesome _and_ she'd kill me for proposing so I'd definitely die before marrying her."

They all laughed at that and turned to see Naruto and Konohamaru march onto the arena.

"Begin!"

Sakura saw two dust clouds as the two incredibly strong genin rushed at each other. She was shocked. She knew that Naruto was this fast, but how was Konohamaru faster than the average _jounin_?

He was faster than _her_ and she was a disciple of a Sannin.

Still the speed was nothing to Naruto as he easily wove in and out of Konohamaru's rapid strikes, smiling with pride as he battled his unofficial student. Konohamaru had become strong in the last few years, rapidly growing and soaking in everything that he was taught. Pein's invasion and the Fourth Shinobi World War had a great impact on Konohamaru's attitude. Konohamaru had seen plenty of people die in front of him and wanted to become strong to prevent something like that from happening. Konohamaru had become stronger than even some of the people in _her_ graduation class like Chouji, Kiba, and Hinata.

Sakura's face took on a thoughtful expression. Konohamaru and Naruto were quite similar in that they learned best when they fought for others.

Still, despite Konohamaru's skill, Naruto was clearly better, even without the use of Sage Mode and Kyuubi Mode, both of which were forbidden in the final round.

She saw Naruto suddenly duck under a blow and twist before elbowing Konohamaru in the gut. A Rasengan quickly appeared in his hand.

"Rasengan!" Naruto cried while slamming it into Konohamaru.

_Poof!_

"It's my win!"

Naruto grabbed the fist that rose up from the ground and while flipping _in the air_, threw Konohamaru onto the ground. Sakura gasped at the maneuver. It was incredibly difficult to change the position of the body in the air like that, but to do so while flipping a body over was physically almost impossible.

Naruto punched towards Konohamaru's head only to find that the boy had replaced himself with a pre-prepared pot with high-grade explosive tag.

Sakura gasped again. Even Naruto wouldn't survive a blow from a _grade-9_ explosive tag.

_BOOM!_

She closed her eyes and grabbed her seat as the entire stadium rocked from the explosion.

"Not bad, Konohamaru," Naruto said as he cleared all the dust with a burst of wind. "But that technique damages your body. I doubt you can use it for much longer."

Sakura's eyes narrowed as mutters went up around them.

"What technique is Naruto talking about?" Ino whispered. "Is he just bluffing?"

"No," Kiba shook his head in a rather serious way. "My fighting style revolves around speed so I was able to catch it. Konohamaru isn't just moving fast; he's using the body flicker repeatedly to keep up with Naruto's speed."

"I thought it was strange that he was so fast," Sakura said as she looked towards the panting Konohamaru. "The body flicker involves coating the body externally with chakra instead of amplifying the muscles to move at faster speeds than what the body is normally able to handle. It's fine for the first few times and okay for short, linear distances, but using that repeatedly and using it to change in mid-movement is incredibly dangerous."

"There's only one person who was able to use the body flicker in that manner," Shikamaru muttered with narrow eyes. "Shisui Uchiha."

"He's nowhere near Shisui's level. Shisui could use that for an entire battle before he felt the consequences. Konohamaru's body, on the other hand, is already beginning to break down even after a few minutes," Chouji said, no longer eating his chips. "If he keeps using it, he won't be able to move at all."

Konohamaru stood up and smirked as he motioned through hand signs. "You're one of the strongest fighters in the Elemental Nations and my big brother all but in name, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let you off easy."

Naruto nodded and gave the younger boy a genuine smile. "We're not just brothers; we're rivals, after all."

"Fire Release: River of Fire!" Konohamaru breathed out a large amount of fire. Unlike the typical fire techniques, this one wasn't a fireball. This was a _steady_ _stream_ of fire.

"A ninjutsu battle? Sure, why not? Water Release: Aqua Shield!"

Everyone gaped as Naruto created a large amount of water out of nothing and evaporate every bit of fire hitting it.

"Tch," Konohamaru said as his technique ended. "How about this one? Fire Release: Raging Sea of Fire!"

Sakura could feel the heat from where she was sitting as Konohamaru flooded the arena with red flames.

The fire in the stadium eventually died down revealing burnt walls and charred sand. Naruto was standing there unharmed. There was a small circle of sand around his feet that was still golden and not burnt brown.

"That's it?" Naruto commented cockily with a small smirk as he walked forward slowly. "I'm a bit disappointed. I thought I taught you not to throw around destructive ninjutsu like that. You're not me; you'll run out of chakra."

Sakura's eyes widened. Naruto's battle strategy had been insane! He had simply expelled a large amount of chakra to shield him from the fire.

"Stop acting cool, Big Brother!" Konohamaru summoned a blade of fire. "I…I wo…won't surrender!" he panted stubbornly as he ran towards Naruto. Naruto merely dodged the wild swings and then _caught_ the fire sword in his hand. "Impossible."

"Nope," Naruto shook his head as the sword suddenly died out. "I know you won't surrender, but this is the end. Shadow clone technique!"

Sakura winced as the original Naruto kneed Konohamaru in the stomach and each of the clones subsequently delivered powerful uppercuts to knock the boy higher and higher into the air.

"Uz—"

"Zu—"

"Ma—"

"Ki—"

The original Naruto body flickered above Konohamaru and then knocked him down to the ground with a double-fisted hammer. "Naruto Combo!"

"Winner, Naruto Uzumaki!" Temari shouted as the medics came running out onto the arena.

"Wow," Kiba whistled. "Naruto sure didn't take it easy on Konohamaru. I haven't seen him move that fast in a long time."

Sakura didn't answer her classmate. Naruto had been impressive, sure, but he was holding back, _even_ in his base form.

_Just how strong are you, Naruto?_ Sakura thought.

* * *

**An Island off the East Coast of the Land of Fire, Disputed Waters – May 21, AK 20**

"Naruto!" Sakura cried. "Why did you jump in front of me like that?!"

She immediately began healing him as fast as she could. Naruto's entire skeletal frame was fractured from taking the huge blast of water. It was a miracle that he was still alive, even with the Kyuubi's chakra healing him.

"Because," he gasped out, "I love you, Sakura. My body just moved on its own."

The mission had not been a good one. They had gotten reports that Kiri was making attempts to conquer a small town on an island near the Land of Fire. The town itself was neutral, but had hired Konoha to fend off attacks from Kiri ninjas. There were ten Kiri squads and three hundred samurais from the Land of Water. Konoha couldn't be implicated in the battle since they didn't want a war with Kiri. The Fire Daimyo also had explicitly warned Konoha to back off.

So they could only send two ninjas. Two of the strongest they had, but still only two to deal with forty ninjas and three hundred well trained samurais, each of which could match an average chuunin. The small town had a garrison of only fifty trained men.

An S-rank mission.

It was made even worse by the fact that Naruto couldn't use the now famous Kyuubi Mode or any of his Rasengan variants. Sage Mode was already risking it enough.

Naruto had managed to slaughter most of the forces by himself with Sakura acting as his backup, but not even he could take care of so many men by himself. He had been distracted and she had been too focused on being his support that neither of them had realized that a squad of Kiri ninjas had outflanked them.

They had fired off a collaboration water technique at her. Naruto managed to notice at the last moment and ran back fast enough to push her out of the way.

Sakura immediately used a genjutsu to make the ninjas who had attacked her fight amongst themselves but Naruto was already greatly injured. Normally, he could shrug off attacks while in Kyuubi Mode, but he had taken a four-way collaboration technique in his base mode without having the time to expel any chakra to shield himself. He had used too much chakra fighting all day and had used a large amount to body flicker back to protect her.

Fortunately, the fifty or so remaining enemies decided to retreat, having suffered enough casualties for the day.

"You idiot!" Sakura berated with tears in her eyes. "You have to stop protecting me like this. You could die!"

Naruto chuckled but only managed to cough out blood. "It's fine, Sakura. I won't die. Not before I become Hokage."

Sakura gave him a small smile to show support but was working as fast as she could to heal him. It would be extremely close. Even though shards of bones were lodged in most of his organs, none of the injuries were too severe individually. It was just that she didn't have enough time to heal all of them individually before he died.

And Naruto's healing factor was dulled from his heavy overuse throughout the day.

Unless that came back or unless she had more help, he would die.

But help wasn't going to come.

She decided to make a shot in the dark. "If…if you survive this…" she whispered, tears streaming down her face, "I'll go out with you. I promise."

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise but shook his head. "Don't say things that you don't really mean, Sakura. I won't hold you to it. You don't owe me anything. I moved on my own."

"No," she said softly, "you don't have to hold me to anything. I'll hold myself to it."

"No," Naruto said firmly. "I'm not going to take that."

"Naruto," she blinked the tears out of her eyes and smiled at him. "Then you'll be rejecting me. _I'm_ asking _you_ out." She paused. "I'm not lying to you this time. I…I really like you."

* * *

**Takahashi Bar, Konoha – November 8, AK 21**

"Naruto!" she thumped her boyfriend's chest as he carried her out of the bar. "Don't take me out. I want to drink more!"

"Sakura," he sighed. "You've had more than enough."

"You've had more than me!" she accused drunkenly, while slapping him lightly across the face.

"I did," he admitted, "but I can hold my liquor better than you can."

"Liar!"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Then why are you the one in my arms?"

"Because I'm a princess!" Sakura declared triumphantly. "That's what my parents—"

Sakura's mood instantly plummeted and she started sobbing. "My parents! My parents passed away. I'll never get to see them again!"

Her parents had been on a trip outside of Konoha and had been slaughtered by a large group of bandits. Her father had been a chuunin in the past, but he had long since retired and was overwhelmed with numbers.

"Sakura," Naruto said in a soothing voice. "Your parents wouldn't want to see you like this."

She just kept sobbing. It was easier to let out her emotions when completely drunk. "I loved them so much!"

"I know," Naruto said while patting her on the head and stroking her hair. "I'm sure they were great parents."

Sakura nodded as a stream of tears came down her face. "I got annoyed with them so often, but now that they're gone, I feel so empty."

"We often annoy those we love the most, Sakura," Naruto said sagely as he rocked her gently back and forth in his arms, "We know their quirks and weaknesses, they know ours. It's a sign of love to know someone that much. But we often take their presence for granted and snap at them the most."

"When did you get so wise?" Sakura hiccupped as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Naruto laughed. "Maybe I should drink more often. You seem to like me better. You're not hitting me or berating me nearly as much."

She rubbed her face against his chest. "Say, Naruto?"

"Yes?"

"Can we go to your house for tonight?" she asked. "I don't want to stay alone. It hurts too much."

Naruto stopped walking. "You sure?" he whispered. "People would talk, you know."

"Let them," she snorted before wrapping her arms even tighter. "I'm going to let everyone know that Naruto Uzumaki is mine." She opened her mouth loudly. "Naruto is MI—"

Naruto had clamped his hand around her mouth. "Sakura," he warned. "People are sleeping. You don't want to disturb them at 1 a.m. in the morning."

"Whatever," she growled out while holding a chakra scalpel to his neck. "Either way, I'm going to your place."

He nodded and body flickered to get back home faster. "Sure thing."

There was a long silence as he jumped back home at fast speeds. It took maybe about two or three minutes for him reach home.

"I'm pretty sure that you're going to kill me tomorrow morning for being perverted or whatever, but you would have kill me now if I didn't bring you to my place."

Sakura realized that she was still holding her chakra scalpel near his neck. "Oops!" she giggled as she deactivated her technique. "I forgot about that."

Naruto rolled his eyes as he carried her to his room. "You can try and wash up." He set her gently on his bed. "Or you can just go to sleep now. Either is fine with me. I'll take one of the other rooms."

She giggled and grabbed his arm. "Oh, I won't mind if you are perverted tonight."

Naruto froze. "What?" He tried pulling away from her vice-like grip. "No!"

Sakura growled as she used her strength to pull him on the bed. "I'm both sad and frustrated. You're either going to do this willingly or I'm going tie you up and have my way with you anyway. We both know you want this as well."

Naruto's eyes widened. "We need to stop! You're drunk! You're going to kill me in the morning."

Sakura started removing all her clothes. "That's your problem."

* * *

**Hokage Monument, Konoha – December 26, AK 21**

"Hi, Naruto," she smiled as she came up behind him and hugged him. "Something on your mind? You're only up here when you're worrying about something."

"Sakura," Naruto paused before looking up at the night sky. "Do you really love me?"

She let go of him, hurt by his question. She punched him on the head. "Of course I do, you idiot," she scolded before softening her eyes. "You've given up your life for me so many times. How could I not?"

Naruto didn't turn to look at her but kept looking at the village below. "Do you trust me?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. Naruto was being uncharacteristically serious. It was probably his way of trying to be cool. "Yes, now out with it."

Naruto grabbed her and jumped off the monument.

Sakura's mind went blank before she realized she was falling through the air. "WHAT THE?! NARUTO! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

She screamed as loudly as she could, while trying to find _something _to hold on to so they wouldn't fall to their deaths.

Nothing.

Naruto, on the other hand, was laughing with glee as they fell.

Did Naruto finally snap? She knew he was stressed from constantly being on missions, but surely he wasn't as idiotic as to want to commit suicide and homicide on top of that.

Sakura closed her eyes as the ground came closer and closer.

Three.

Two.

One.

There was no pain.

Her eyes snapped open to see them _soaring_ through the sky. They were _flying_.

"Naruto," she gasped out. "What—"

"A new technique," he said with a bright smile.

"Amazing!" She spread out her arms while Naruto held her in a flying motion and giggled. The refreshing night wind blew around them and made her feel alive. It was definitely the best experience she had in her life.

"It's a technique I made just for us. Something special to us." He held her closely as he gestured to the entire village. "One day, I'm going to protect everything and everyone you see down there. I'm going to be the champion of the poor and the weak," She looked at the loving look he was now giving her. "But there's only one special person I'm going to hold in my heart, just like I'm holding her in my arms right now."

Sakura felt her heart pounding as he took out a small box. They were in the air so he couldn't get down on one knee, but the feeling of freedom and soaring through the air with her boyfriend more than made up for that.

"Naruto," she breathed out.

"Sakura, my love," he paused to smile at her. "Will you marry me?"

* * *

**Uzumaki Compound, Konoha – January 2, AK 22**

Sakura smiled as she walked into Naruto's house.

Naruto had proposed to her a week ago before he left on his mission. She had heard that he had just returned and she wanted to greet him.

She looked at the ring on her hand; she finally had her answer.

Yes, they had been intimate before, but that had been in a drunken stupor after her parents had died. She hardly remembered the experience—or at least her first time, since they had done the deed through much of the night and through the next day—and Sakura didn't want _that_ to dictate what she did with the rest of her life. And she had already agreed to start dating Naruto because of yet another mission gone wrong. She didn't want her marriage decision to be an impulsive decision.

Marriage was much more serious than just dating or even sleeping together.

It would be painful to have given her virginity already if she ended up with someone else, but she was a kunoichi. Times _had_ changed than in the past when sex was regularly used as a weapon, but it wasn't unheard of for seduction to be required on a mission. And plenty of girls had slept with a boyfriend or two before marriage.

Sakura had wanted some time to herself to think about whether this was what she wanted in her life. Sakura was ashamed to admit it, but she was still worried that she had Sasuke in her heart. It wasn't fair to Naruto if she married him with another person in her heart. She wanted time to search herself and come clean.

Sakura wanted to be absolutely sure.

Sasuke, while more handsome and "cooler" than Naruto ever could be, just did not have the warmth that Naruto exuded. In the past, she had a girly desire for the cool and dark prince to be "cured" by her charms and become a loving protector, but she was more mature now. There was nothing more valuable in this world than pure love and Naruto had that in spades.

Her love for him wasn't natural or immediate, but it had grown over the years after watching him put his life on the line for her over and over again and encouraging her whenever she was down.

Sakura was ready to marry him. She was sure that she had fallen in love with him.

She opened the door to his house and tiptoed inside, hoping to catch him by surprise. After all, all good things were best received when they were unexpected.

* * *

AN: So there you have it. You have a few snapshots of Sakura's memories about Naruto. It should throw things in for a loop since everyone felt that Sakura was being a heartless and selfish person when, in fact, she was just a confused girl who was coming to terms with her own feelings. That's not to say that Sakura isn't selfish, since she most certain is, but she's not _pure_ evil. I'm trying to paint her as imperfect, not evil.

And to answer the questions that will inevitably come up.

Does Naruto love Sakura now? No.

Will Naruto ever love Sakura again? No.

Will there be any Naruto and Sakura drama that will derail Naruto's and Hanabi's relationship and eventual marriage? No.

Naruto and Sakura are done and you'll see why in the future. This "bonus" chapter was merely to give a glimpse into the past.

* * *

**_PLEASE READ:_**

The real reason for a filler chapter is because I wanted to give you guys more time to choose. **T****he wedding & the wedding night chapter is coming up. ****It's not the next chapter, but the chapter after that.**** Do you want lemons or no lemons? Or maybe just another story with lemons to supplement this one? **

I'll be honest; I'm not too big a fan of lemons but if the demand is there, I'll consider writing them. Ratings will go up to M, obviously, if you want me to write them as part of the story.

**_Vote in the poll at the top of my profile. You can also leave reviews to voice your thoughts. I'm not necessarily going to pick what the poll shows if someone makes an incredibly good argument one way or another. Thanks!_**


	12. Engagement - Being Intrigued

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. This is fanfiction, after all.

* * *

_Please Read:_

**_Next chapter is the wedding and Naruto & Hanabi _might_ consummate their marriage_._ Do you want lemons or no lemons? Or maybe just another story with lemons to supplement this one?_**I'll be honest; I'm not too big a fan of lemons but if the demand is there, I'll consider writing them. Ratings will go up to M, obviously, if you want me to write them as part of the story.

**_Vote in the poll at the top of my profile. You can also leave reviews to voice your thoughts. I'm not necessarily going to pick what the poll shows if someone makes an incredibly good argument one way or another. Thanks!_**

* * *

**Akimichi Barbeque, Konoha – March 23, AK22**

It was one of the rare times when the remaining members of the Konoha Twelve met up. Today, however, Naruto had not been invited and Hinata had refused to show her face even with the assurance that Naruto wouldn't be present. And lastly, Sai was out on a mission.

Shino found himself stuck between Lee and Kiba, the two most exuberant ones among his friends. Normally he would have summoned the kikaichu of his hive to plug his ears so he wouldn't to hear screams of 'youth' or arrogant boasts about being 'kicking everyone's ass.' The mood today, however, was a lot more somber.

"I guess this is everyone then," Shikamaru drawled, as the waiter brought everyone's orders. "Kiba, I don't know why you wanted to set up this meeting because frankly, it looks like it's going to be a drag."

Shino scrunched his nose as the smell of cooking meet filled their air. He wasn't averse to meat, but he simply had no appetite for anything. Seeing Hinata bawling earlier left a bad feeling in his stomach.

Aside from Chouji, it seemed like everyone else shared his sentiment.

"Tenten," Kiba said in a low voice, "I know this is a private room, but give us some privacy. I'm probably going to lose my temper multiple times and I don't want to make a scene."

Shino blinked in surprise. Kiba was usually not one to admit his flaws. It was likely that Kiba had feelings of regret from inflicting bodily harm to Naruto in the morning.

"Right." Shino watched with some interest as the only sealing elite of their group placed her hand on the table. Characters flowed outward from her hand and eventually filled the entire room. Tenten made a few hand signs. "Activate!"

The only indication that something happened was the characters on the ground glowing blue. While the seal was in plain sight to them, a person outside the barrier that Tenten just erected wouldn't see hear anything.

"Shikamaru," Kiba said threateningly, "I think you owe it to us to give us some details as to what happened in that infamous council meeting."

Shino decided to contribute his point to provide context. "We had made the logical assumption that someone was spreading rumors about Naruto, given his celebrity status in the village. Eventually, though, the rumors grew loud enough that we decided to confirm it with Hinata and Naruto before the surprise announcement today."

"I heard about that," Tenten chortled. "Naruto really went all-out on that one, huh?"

"I'm just glad I wasn't there," Ino shuddered. "Being covered in semen is not my thing."

"We're getting off topic," Kiba growled. "Just tell us about how the damn meeting went!"

"Ugh," Shikamaru groaned. "Not you guys, too. Ino pestered me for details all week so she can go gossip with her friends."

The blonde in question grit her teeth. "Hey, I just wanted to confirm what I heard. Is that so bad? My mom refused to tell me anything. And Hinata's my friend too, you know. I wasn't trying to gossip!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "The world must be ending if you don't want to gossip, Ino." The Nara clan head ducked under a swing from his teammate. "The Sixth figured something like this would happen and gave me the green light to tell all of you what happened. But understand that this is classified. There's a reason why the council meetings are closed door meetings."

"So, what _actually_ happened?" Ino asked before turning to admonish her other teammate, "Hey, Chouji! Slow down! You'll throw up if you eat that quickly."

Chouji's only response was to eat even faster.

Shikamaru ignored the two as he chewed on his own piece of meat. "The Land of Spring and the Demon Country all but demanded that Naruto marry their respective rulers. They had heard that Sakura had passed on and that Naruto was once again single."

Ino growled. "Those conniving and cruel bitches! They just want to marry the war hero!"

"Ino, calm down," the Nara clan head warned. "Otherwise I won't tell you anything. I'm sure that the rulers had feelings for Naruto and that those feelings were genuine, but it's more likely that they were forced by the political situation in their own countries to ask for a marriage."

Shino didn't understand the idea of political marriages. Marriages should be based on compatibility. Two insects of different species would not be able to have offspring simply because they were put in one nest. It was more likely that one would kill the other. But Shino had long come to terms with that fact that humans never operated on logic.

Lee cut in, "That's right. High Priestess Shion is required to have an heiress by her twenty-fifth birthday, which is in three years. Naruto unwittingly promised to help her birth an heiress."

"Eh? Then isn't he breaking the promise by getting married to Hanabi?" Tenten asked. "How is he going to—"

"Samples," Ino interrupted, "of certain bodily fluids. I was wondering why Naruto had asked about that the other day."

There was a long pause. Shino regularly practiced breeding his kikaichu so he didn't find any problem with the concept of sperm donation, but it was clear that the rest of the group did not agree.

"And understandably, High Priestess Shion doesn't favor that option too much," Shikamaru continued, "Not only is it…well…a deviation from normal copulation, but also something about her bloodline ability makes it harder for her to conceive without love. So she demanded that Naruto come and marry her. At the very least, she wanted him to come make love to her to make it easier for her to conceive."

There was another silence. It was definitely bad if the political situation of the Demon Country required the priestess to be that desperate. Priestesses were usually expected to have only one sexual partner for life. For High Priestess Shion to be willing to throw any chance of a future marriage away just to have an heir with Naruto was serious. On the flip side, it could also mean that the priestess was just that desperate for Naruto, but Shino doubted that. The priestess was probably trying to get out of an unwanted marriage to someone from her own home.

"It's a similar situation in the Land of Springs. People are demanding that she get married. Daimyo Kazahana simply went with someone she admired and chose Naruto even though he's more than seven years younger than her."

Shino suddenly recalled a part of his conversation with Naruto.

_Flashback_

"…_I have to marry someone I don't love, but I get out of a political situation that would have forced me to go marry a girl in another country AND I get a powerful ally in the Hyuuga clan for my future bid to be Hokage. Konoha manages to avert offending two rich countries. The only casualty in all this is love."_

_End Flashback_

"I see," Shino commented in a low tone, "Naruto mentioned his aversion to a marriage with a foreign woman."

"Naruto was stuck between a rock and a hard place," Shikamaru admitted. "No matter what, he was going to have to get married. He simply chose the path involving the least amount of pain."

"Least amount of pain?" Ino shrieked. Shino winced at the volume, though he understood the sentiment. He to would not call the level of heartbreak Hinata was currently suffering a small amount of pain. "Do you not know what Hinata must be going through right now? Wouldn't it have been easier on everyone if Naruto married Hinata? Or just not married at all? What happened to his nindo of never giving up? What about Sak—"

"Ino, have a bit more faith in Naruto," Chouji scolded.

Shino did not miss the hard look that Shikamaru was giving Ino, but filed it away in his mind for later use. It was clear that Ino was going to mention Sakura, but surely the girl didn't think that Naruto had to be faithful to a _dead_ girlfriend? And everyone knew that Sakura hadn't truly loved Naruto. Most people felt that the girl had used Naruto as a replacement for Sasuke and Shino agreed with them.

It was probably better that Naruto be forced to move on in this manner.

Instead, Shino stared at the plump boy for a few seconds. Chouji had always been the kindest among them and didn't doubt Naruto's good heart for a single second. Shino could only describe what he was feeling as envy. Even he, with his years of careful observation, had doubted Naruto. There was shame in that. The Aburame clan prided itself on cold logic, but even the Aburame clan did not deny the value of friendship and loyalty.

"Indeed," Shino commented, publicly acknowledging Chouji's trust in Naruto. "Naruto explained that he desired for Hinata to become the Hyuuga clan head."

The blonde girl suddenly looked apologetic at hearing the reasonable explanation.

"That was my reaction when he told us that," Kiba said sadly, "I even slugged the guy. So don't feel too bad. It's just strange to be thinking about political consequences because very few of us are involved in that manner."

"I'm sure that Naruto understands," Shikamaru consoled, "He's not the type that wants credit for selfless deeds anyway. I think he much rather have all the people in the village think he chose Hanabi because she's the strongest woman around his age. Given how he embarrassed Hiashi in front of the entire council, I think that Naruto also intended for everyone to think he was denying Hiashi his favored heir."

"Oh my goodness," Tenten gasped. "What the hell did he do? Angering Lord Hyuuga is not something anyone should want to do. While Naruto certainly could, Naruto wouldn't wipe out the Hyuuga clan single-handedly. The Hyuuga clan, on the other hand, would have no qualms about burying him politically."

Shikamaru frowned. "I don't think Naruto's really worried about that, especially now that Hinata's the undisputed heiress. Besides, it wasn't too bad. Naruto just questioned Hiashi's motivation. Hiashi spun his argument by claiming that he was trying to act as a good father to Hinata while acting as a responsible clan head trying to gain political influence."

"Ah. By requesting Hanabi, Naruto revealed that Hinata's father was little more than a shrewd politician. Tch. The bastard should have just died in the last war."

"Kiba, stop being such a troublesome idiot," Shikamaru sighed. "The situation wasn't as simple as that. Hiashi was honest in his response. So Naruto did more than just shame Hiashi. He rewarded Hiashi. On the surface, it may be that Hiashi failed, but look at it from a different perspective. Hint: This about the situation as if Hanabi didn't want to be the clan head."

Shikamaru's perspective was quite interesting and _if _true, would demonstrate incredible depth from Naruto. Naruto did Hiashi a favor to help him be a better parent. With the marriage to Hanabi, Hiashi would be fulfilling his duty as a caring parent by giving something to both of his daughters: Hinata, the approval to be clan head, and Hanabi, freedom from the clan. If Naruto agreed to marry Hinata, Hiashi would have become a horrible father because Hanabi would have been trapped in the clan forever while Hinata would never have the opportunity to achieve her dream.

But Shino didn't feel that Shikamaru really believed what he was saying himself. It was just probably a way to make Naruto appear as a good person. Shino himself doubted Naruto thought that deeply into it since Naruto admitted his reasons, but it was still interesting how it was becoming easier and easier to rationalize Naruto's choice.

"Naruto instinctively understands people and relationships better than any of us here," Chouji added. "He might not have gone through the entire thought process that Shikamaru just did, but Naruto probably foresaw a future where Hinata just ended up completely dependent on him. Hinata might have convinced herself that she was happy, but that's no way to live."

"I agree. But it's not important that we dissect his reasons. What I'm more interested in is why Hanabi agreed."

"Well, didn't you say she wanted to leave the clan?" Kiba asked. "She probably just took the first chance she got."

"It's a bit more complicated than that. Kakashi and I looked over the marriage contract. That scroll was loaded with intricate seals. From what we were able to deduce, the seals would use Naruto's own nature chakra to sense whether Hanabi truly wanted the marriage."

"Do you have a copy of the seals?" Tenten asked. "I'm sure Lord Hokage looked over it carefully, but it can't hurt to to have more opinions."

Shino carefully watched as Shikamaru nodded and handed her a copy of the seals.

"Um…this might be a stupid question. But how does anyone read the words on the contract if the seals are covering it," Kiba asked, while pointing at the scroll.

"Idiot!" Ino smacked her forehead in exasperation. "The seals would obviously be invisible on the real paper. They would only be visible upon activation with chakra."

"Oh."

"Any luck?" Shikamaru asked after a few minutes. "We really don't have any true fuinjutsu masters in the village anymore. You, Sai, Yugao, and Kakashi are probably among the best we have."

"I understand the basics of it. There's an activation seal, chakra absorption seal, branding seal, and something that looks like a summoning contract in it. There are a couple other things about it that I don't get, but that's advanced fuinjutsu for sure. You sure Naruto made this thing?"

"Naruto also mentioned fuinjutsu to us in the marketplace," Shino added. The Nara clan head was a good actor but Shino was a better reader on people. There was something bigger going on here. Shikamaru may pretend to be lazy but he had a deeper reason to be interested in this topic.

"Neither Kiba nor I was aware that Naruto had knowledge in the sealing arts."

"Kakashi said the design looks somewhat like Lord Jiraiya's, so it's likely that much of the original construct came from something Lord Jiraiya invented. I knew that Naruto had picked up fuinjutsu a while back, but I doubt he could come up with something as advanced as this from scratch." Shikamaru took the scroll back from Tenten. "Anyway, you four know Hanabi better than I do. Were any of you aware that she knew Naruto before this?"

There was a pause. Shino thought for a few moments before he narrowed his eyes. Shikamaru's constant questioning about Hanabi and emphasis on the contract…

Perhaps the Nara clan head was looking into a conspiracy? Shino probably wouldn't put it past the Hyuuga clan to try to set Naruto as the Hokage and then assassinate him so that their favored heiress would become both clan heir and interim Hokage for at least a good year while the village scrambled to discover what went wrong. And during that time, the Hyuuga clan would move to solidify their power permanently. It was incredibly risky but the Hyuuga clan might be too arrogant to see that.

Shino shook his head. "Hanabi never gave us the indication that she knew Naruto whenever she saw her while we were visiting Hinata in the past."

"Strange, so how was the contract able to accept her? According to Kakashi, that seal was designed to reject anyone that didn't want Naruto specifically."

"Mmm…" Lee stated with some uncertainty. "Well, on our last mission, we ran into an S-rank ninja that completely outclassed us in youth."

Shino didn't know what to make of the youth comment. He assumed that it meant power but he couldn't be too sure. Still, the green spandex-wearing boy looked uncharacteristically serious so Shino decided to pay careful attention.

Tenten shivered, "Lee! Don't remind me of that! I don't think I have ever been that scared in my life."

Shino shifted his glasses. He was not a coward by any means, but the thought of facing a hostile master in the ninja arts was not pleasant.

"Holy crap!" Kiba shouted. "You fought one and lived to tell the tale? Shit! I wish I had been there!"

"You don't know what you're talking about," Tenten shivered again. "The sheer chakra pressure, even without an intent to kill, was ridiculous. And he carved a trench in the ground a kilometer long with just one technique."

"And?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow after a pause. "So how does being scared out of your minds have to do with Hanabi agreeing to marry Naruto?"

Lee picked up from where he left off. "Well, I believe that something changed within Hanabi after that mission. I don't quite have the youth to figure out what it is and I lost consciousness well before Hanabi did, but I believe she lost some of her youthfulness. We know that Naruto is the only S-rank that Hanabi could realistically marry, so maybe that was enough for her. Maybe there was a desire for protection."

The two girls groaned and rolled their eyes.

For his part, however, Shino thought that the idea had some merit. It was certainly more probable than looking into a conspiracy. Shino personally had never participated in close-quarter combat with an S-rank but the one member of his clan who survived an encounter with one was Torune Aburame. The man, who had been just a young boy then, had come back with a changed personality. He began to thirst for power, either out of a sense of fear or sense of ambition. Eventually, the clan had discovered that he had used forbidden techniques to amplify the power of his kikachi to make them highly toxic. It was even discovered that Torune had entered Root, the illegal underground ANBU unit during the reign of the Third and the Fifth. The clan had instantly disowned him and surreptitiously reported him to the Third.

Hanabi as fairly young as well and did not have as much experience as their generation did, even at that age. So it was likely that Hanabi would be greatly affected psychologically by the tremendous amount of killing intent that S-ranks were able to unleash.

"Lee, I agree that she's just a kid, especially since she was too young to participate in any of the multiple wars and invasions like we did. And yes, running into an S-rank will scare the crap out of anyone." Ino said with her arms crossed. "But I know human psychology. That wouldn't be enough to make her want to sell her life away. Besides, she's arguably the strongest kunoichi in the entire village, up there with Uzuki and well…Temari if you consider her a Konoha ninja. She's not just going to crawl into her bed and cry in terror, even if she is just a little girl."

"Ino, that little girl is probably going to have children before you do," Kiba sneered. "She'll become a real woman before you will."

Shino twitched in irritation at his teammate's completely unnecessary and irrelevant comment. Sometimes he felt that Kiba desired corporal punishment from the females around him. It would be one of those things that he never understood about his brash Inuzuka teammate. He initially considered Kiba's brashness an Inuzuka trait but seeing Akamaru constantly smack his paw to his forehead at Kiba's antics confirmed that the idiocy was purely Kiba's.

Lee frowned at that and continued to argue his point. "I can't really explain it, but Gai-sensei always used to say that you can see the spirit of a warrior through their eyes. After that battle, I thought I saw something different in her eyes. It was as if her spirit was broken."

Shino did not comment. Hearing Lee's statement only made Shino more confident about his assessment.

It was certainly better than the idea of a Hyuuga conspiracy, but it wasn't a pretty thought either.

Hanabi agreed to marry Naruto for power. In Shino's experience, actions motivated by desire for power never ended well. It was, after all, how Sasuke Uchiha became an enemy of the village.

For now, he would merely observe to check for any signs of betrayal from Hanabi, but Shino had a bad feeling that he was right. Hanabi would eventually betray the village.

* * *

**Konoha Uzumaki Clan Compound, March 23, AK 22**

Naruto looked at the picture of his master. "Hey, Pervy Sage," he whispered.

It had been seven years since his godfather had passed away, but Naruto still missed him dearly to this day. If Naruto had to pick the one person in his life that made him the way he was, he would pick the Pervy Sage without hesitation.

The pervert had been the first one to truly notice him for who he was. Iruka-sensei had seen a similar-minded orphan in need of attention and while Naruto was grateful to the man, the man never managed to be more than a friend and supporter. Granny Tsunade had seen her dead younger brother in him and treated him as such. Shizune saw him as the younger brother she never had.

Kakashi saw a mix of both the Fourth and Obito in him and a means to make up for his mistakes in the past. The Third saw in him a means to protect the village and a symbol of Konoha's Will of Fire.

Naruto's own generation and the generation below had come to see him just as a rock they could lean on.

None of them saw _him_. He was just a representation of their hopes and dreams. He was just an emblem to them all.

None of that had mattered to Jiraiya, however. The Pervy Sage never got that far-off look that Kakashi got when they interacted. The Pervy Sage did teach in the Rasengan in remembrance of the Fourth, but he never once tried to use Naruto as a replacement for the Fourth. Unlike Kakashi, the Pervy Sage never called him "Minato." Unlike the Third, the Pervy Sage never expected perfection. The Pervy Sage recognized that failure was possible because Naruto _wasn't_ his genius father.

The Pervy Sage shared pearls of wisdom that he had not with the Fourth, berated Naruto in a way he had not with the Fourth, and trained him in a completely different manner than he did with the Fourth.

"Would you still approve of me if you saw the person I have become?" Naruto asked the picture. He then turned to the picture of his parents next to the picture of the legendary Sannin. "And Father, in the end, I understand why you had to do what you did. Peace usually comes at the expense of others."

Naruto's thoughts turned to the stories he had heard about his father wiping out entire armies of ninjas. His father had slaughtered men, women, children, animals, and more. Nothing wearing an Iwa headband had been safe during that war. That brought the longest era of peace to Konoha and boosted Konoha to heights never reached before.

In spite of that, the pervert had never approved of the Fourth's method of saving Konoha.

The Pervy Sage was proud of the Fourth and had declared that the Fourth was the Child of Prophecy to anyone who would listen, but he never approved of the Fourth taking lives.

Ever.

The Pervy Sage had his flaws and his habits, but he had always been idealistic and positive, hoping for a world without any fighting. Thus, the old pervert never took an opponent's life if he could help it. He had said that killing only begot hatred, which led to war and even more hatred.

Naruto glanced at the picture of his old teacher sighed. Naruto know he couldn't adhere to that philosophy. He would eventually apologize to the pervert when they met in the afterlife. There would be a lot of pain to go around before peace eventually settled upon the Elemental Nations.

"Still, even if you don't end up approving of what I did and what I'll continue to do, I want to tell you that I'm getting married." Naruto smiled at all of them. "She's quite a looker. Pervy Sage, I'm not sure if her 'measurements' are up to your standards, but I'm still sure you would have approved of my marriage with her, if anything, just so you can get some inspiration for those damn books of yours. She's the Hyuuga princess, a real damsel in distress. I know you would have liked a plot of a orphaned prince ending up with the beautiful princess in one of your books."

Naruto laughed at the idea of a damsel in distress.

Hanabi hadn't even tried to hide it.

She was using him. Born as a Hyuuga, the entire world both respected her and hated her. The girl was revered as a princess in Konoha, but her life was constantly in danger from assassins and kidnappers who were after her family's bloodline. On top of that, the threat of being sealed constantly loomed over her and she was deathly afraid of losing any measure of freedom. It was really sad; Hanabi was a captive to her own family.

Naruto was, in more ways than one, to be her shield to keep the world at bay. His clan head status would counter the Hyuuga's political hold over her. His power and strength would protect her from any dangers from direct threats. His compassion would give her room to become whom she wished.

All incredibly selfish reasons to agree to marry him.

Still, Naruto appreciated that frank honesty. It was more than what most people gave him. The Third gave Naruto to the wolves to be a sacrifice to appease the villagers' pain and hurt. Kakashi gave Naruto absolutely no attention when he needed the attention and guidance and then gave him restrictions once he became powerful enough to roam around freely. Sasuke, his "best" friend, had given him a Chidori to the chest and endless grief as Naruto chased after him from country to country hoping to reform him. Sakura left him with a broken heart and a jaded outlook on life.

All of this while they—even Granny Tsunade and the Pervy Sage—prevented him from knowing the truth about his own heritage.

Naruto sighed. Why did life have to be so damn complicated?

He took out a small hunk of gold. He could have bought a ring for Hanabi, but he decided to fashion his own ring for her.

"I noticed that you're sighing a lot more these days. I once read in a book—"

"Quit it, Sai," Naruto groaned as he filled the metal with his chakra. "And what did I tell you about sneaking into my house?"

Sai had the decency to look slightly abashed by that. But the expression was gone so quickly; Naruto wondered if he had just imagined it.

The gold hunk expanded and shrunk in size freely as if it were liquid suspended in the air.

"Your house is considerably safer than it was then. And I didn't mean for things to go the way they did during _that _incident," Sai said in a neutral voice. "You have my apologies."

Naruto nodded, understanding that suppressing feelings was the only way Sai coped with the world.

"I don't blame you. I never did," Naruto said with a sad smile as he rapidly shaped the metal into a perfect sphere. "You're not the one who hurt me anyway."

"If you had just left me to die instead of trying to save me, none of this would have happened. If you weren't distracted with attempting to heal my wounds, then the incident with Sakura would never have happened. In fact, _she_ might be the one you'd be getting married to in a few days," Sai said with a small frown. "I know more than anyone how much you loved her. Wasn't that one of your unbreakable bonds?"

"Yes," Naruto agreed. "And it is still an unbreakable bond. I still care for Sakura even though I'm marrying Hanabi. But I've already accepted that Sakura's no longer coming back. That may not be entirely true," Naruto added bitterly, "since the seal on her will eventually break, but our relationship will never be what it once was. That unbreakable bond doesn't necessarily have to be one of romantic love, Sai. It can be a connection of friendship or that of close teammates."

"Then what of romantic love?" Sai asked curiously.

"Romantic love?" Naruto asked in a bitter tone. "It's just not for someone like me. Nor do I have time for it. I'll just do the best I can to fall in love while married. Sai," Naruto looked at his old teammate, "each and every day, a small part of me dies. The doubt in me grows and I become more and more exhausted. The toads tell me that I'm supposed to be the Child of Prophecy and my master's last request was for me to unite this world with peace. At first, I was excited to hear that. I felt acknowledged. Honored. But now those feelings are deeply muted. I'm strong, Sai. You know that I'm stronger than almost anyone else in the world. But I'm tired of fighting. It's just easier to go along with what life throws at me without any expectations or hopes."

There was a pause and the only sound was the metal being carefully molded into a ring.

Sai hesitated. "We could have just escaped the village. You and I both know well that this departed from its original mission and philosophy. The Will of Fire was forged from a desire to protect children and the helpless who got caught up in the wars of ambitious and greedy men. This village only seeks to improve its own power and isn't above using children as tools of war and throwing helpless orphans like you and me to the wolves. And besides, we're both motivated by bonds of friendship, not bonds of the village. Why are you so adamant about staying in Konoha?"

Naruto shook his head. "The new generations aren't at fault for the sins of the old. I have to remain here to protect that for now. Until I'm ready to protect _everyone_ in the world, I can't let the people right in front of me suffer. You know better than I do what would happen if I leave."

Sai regularly went out on espionage missions. The intel he gathered was not encouraging. Many different powers were ready to invade and destroy Konoha. Naruto's presence in Konoha was one of the greatest deterrents to war.

The so-called "balance of power." Naruto raised his other hand and lifted the prepared gemstones into the air and started embedding them into the ring.

Sai smiled lightly. "Still adamant about protecting even your enemies, huh? Lord Danzo is probably rolling in his grave right now at your softness."

Naruto closed his eyes to think about his fiancé. "It's not just that. There's something about the Hanabi that intrigues me. If there were someone I _could_ love, it would be her. I want to stay here and see if a true relationship blossoms."

"I never thought you would say that about any girl besides Sakura. What is this girl like?" Sai asked curiously. "Why do you like her so much?"

Naruto thought about that for a minute as he started carving the Uzumaki clan crest onto the ring with wind chakra.

Hanabi, unlike many others, had tried and continued to try to understand him. From what some of his friends were telling him, the girl had purposely made an effort to ask everyone about their opinions on him. And she tried to interact with him as much as possible, asking probing questions, to learn about who he was as a person. Unlike others, she didn't just look at his actions; she searched for the motivations behind those actions. She wasn't interested in the legends and reputations. As he did with others, she wanted to look directly into his soul.

"She can _see_ me," Naruto finally decided to say.

Sai's eyes widened before quickly returning to their emotionless position. "That perceptive?"

Naruto saw the shock in the other boy's eyes. Sai was methodical by nature and had sought to figure out Naruto's true nature. But there were very few who were. Moreover, even the most logical ones let their assessments be clouded by their personal feelings towards Naruto, whether those feelings were about Naruto's former status as a jinchuuriki and a prankster or his current status as the village hero.

"More like unbiased," Naruto clarified. "You already know that people only see what they want to see in me. Hanabi, on the other hand, objectively seeks the truth for herself rather than trying to fool herself with deluded thoughts like the rest of the village."

"Those are some compliments you're giving her," Sai remarked in an off-hand tone, "Are you sure you're not projecting your old feelings for Sakura onto this new girl?"

Naruto shook his head as he drew incredibly small sealing arrays onto the ring. This seal was more or less a chakra storage seal. It would need to be charged regularly, but it would give Hanabi an extra source of chakra to use if her own reserves were to be depleted.

"No way. Not a chance. Unlike my idealization of Sakura, I actually recognize Hanabi's flaws. She isn't a perfect girl. For example, she's using this marriage for her own gain."

"Ah," Sai nodded. "You mean our 'friend' _Kokuten_?"

Naruto nodded. "The experience traumatized her and she's grasping at whatever she could for protection. Survival instinct."

"And the freedom from the Hyuuga clan is another bonus of her, I suppose," Sai mused with his arms folded.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed.

"Then why are you indulging her? It's not like you have no duty or debt to her. You owe _Hinata_ more than you owe her."

Naruto chuckled but there was no mirth in his laughter. "Well, Hanabi is like us. She's trying to find her own identity in this damned world of ours. So I decided to help her out a bit."

"I see. But what are your intentions towards her?" Sai asked slowly. "That's some ring you're creating for her," Sai commented before Naruto could answer. "I've known you for a while now and I understand what that means."

"Oh?" Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Can't a husband just create a ring for his beloved?"

Sai just gave him a dull look. "What is it that Kakashi Hatake always says? _A ninja must look underneath the underneath._ The reason you gave? That's the first layer," he said. "The second layer represents your desire to get stronger and using even something like a wedding preparation as practice for your technique. The third layer represents your fatigue in feeling forced into having to practice so that you can protect the world." Sai had another fake smile on his face. "Shall I go on and talk about how you're putting your soul into that piece of jewelry or are you going to explain why you're already in love with a girl you just recently met?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "You're wrong about that last part," Naruto insisted. "I don't love her. I'll admit that she's attractive and that I'm intrigued, but there's nothing more than that."

"I don't believe you, Naruto," his friend answered back, "Because I've learned about emotions from a theoretical standpoint, I can look at things objectively. You're already in love with her. At this point, you're just stubbornly denying it out of a desire to protect your heart. You tend to fall hard, Naruto."

He shook his head. "Believe what you want, but you're wrong. I already learned my lesson once. I _may _fall in love with her. But that's after I know she can be fully trusted. She hasn't done anything to earn that trust."

Sai didn't look convinced but accepted his statement. "Then I hope you realize that while this isn't the typical political marriage since you'll be keeping all your children in your own clan, but you'll be a married clan head. Being a clan head in Konoha has certain requirements. You'll need to produce an heir as soon as possible," Sai informed him with a strange smile. "Biologically, you have to ins—"

Naruto groaned loudly and covered his ears. "I'm not in the mood to hear one of your lame jokes. I get it. I'm going to have to sleep with her. And very soon after the marriage as well. That doesn't mean anything. It's just the act of procreation."

Again, Sai didn't look too convinced. "If you say so, Naruto. Personally, I don't think that sounds like the Naruto who used to be a romantic at heart. But in any case, just make sure you don't regret this. What happened with Sakura wasn't your fault. But you're just bringing this on yourself if something goes wrong with Hanabi."

Naruto scowled. "That won't happen. I'm guarding my heart," Naruto said fiercely, as Sai disappeared. Naruto opened his closet to pull out something heavily covered in seals. "Now…to make the final preparations. After all, I won't be home for several weeks."

* * *

**Hyuuga Graveyard, Konoha – March 26, AK 22**

"I thought this was more of Hinata's thing."

"It is," Hanabi admitted. "I try not to live in the past. And besides," she added sadly, "I don't have as many memories of my mother as my sister does. So it makes sense for her to be more attached."

Naruto came next to her and held her hand. "That doesn't devalue your relationship with your mother in the least, Hanabi." Hanabi glanced at him. Naruto was uncharacteristically somber. "Those we love will continue to live on in our hearts."

"I recognize those words," Hanabi murmured. "They're quotes from Fourth Shinobi World War. To be precise, they're _your_ words."

"Sort of," Naruto shook his head. "Hinata and I came up with that together after Neji died. I'm merely the one who shouted it out for the entire world to hear. So everyone just assumed it was something I came up with. I figured it's appropriate here since it's both your and her mother. But that's not the important part," Naruto said with a small smile, "the point is that your mother is watching over you from wherever she is."

She nodded. "I know."

There was a long silence.

It was a day before their marriage and things were still uncomfortable between them. It wasn't that they didn't like each other. It was just that there was a strange need to start a conversation whenever they were together. They weren't close enough to be perfectly fine standing together in silence. They would get there some day, but it was still some ways off in the future.

For now, they had to cover up the awkwardness by getting to know each other more. Or so Hanabi felt. Naruto seemed completely immune to awkwardness.

Hanabi watched as Naruto put his hands together in front of him and bowed his head in a rare show of respect. "Lady Hyuuga, tomorrow, your daughter will become my wife. I won't lie and say that I love her dearly," he paused, "but I will do my best to treat her well and make her happy. I assure you that no harm will come to her while she is in my care."

Hanabi reached out to grab Naruto hand. She could tell that his words were sincere. It was one of those times when he didn't mask his thoughts. It was why he was so serious.

She stepped forward. "Mother, Naruto is the strongest man in the Elemental Nations." Hanabi smiled. "He can be a perverted idiot," she ignored the small cry of indignation from her fiancé, "but there's no one with a better heart. He loves the poor, sick, and the needy, just as you once did. So I'm sure you'd approve. He's the one freeing my from the shackles of the Hyuuga clan that you despised so much."

They were silent as they bowed again and left flowers before they walked away together.

"I," Naruto began, "I didn't know that your mother loved the poor and hated your clan. I wouldn't have expected the wife of Hiashi Hyuuga to be so different from him."

She gave him a sad smile. "I'm not surprised when people tell me that. But where do you think my sister got her kindness and gentleness from?"

The Sage looked thoughtful at that. "I suppose you're right," he nodded slowly. "I just always thought it was her way of coping with how she was raised, but I guess not."

Hanabi shook her head and continued her explanation. "Our clan is known for being noble and powerful, not kind. Kindness is almost immediately stamped out among the members of the Hyuuga clan. It's a miracle that my mother lasted as long as she did. But in the end, it was probably because of her gentleness that the elders assassinated her. She hated the fact that our clan was so proper in the most pointless of things. We had power but did nothing but hoard it while people outside our compound suffered."

He looked at her intently. "Last time you said that there was no proof. Yet today, you're saying it as if it's a certainty."

"I'm convinced that it's an assassination. My father doesn't think so; he has too much faith in our clan. Hinata is naïve at times so she simply believes the cover story. But I'm different from both of them. I recognize the flaws in the clan and don't feel attachment to the clan. It's one of the reasons why I wanted to leave so much."

"I can understand that. I wanted to be free of the Kyuubi so much for destroying my childhood. Every time I walked in front of the cage, I was reminded of just how much hate was thrown at me. It must have been difficult for you to live at home and see the faces of your mother's killers."

"To be fair, I don't know _who_ did it. But yes," she nodded, "it was difficult to live at home. It was a constant source of fear and anger."

"It's strange," Naruto squeezed her hand to reassure her, "I used to think that only the Branch House members were caged, but it seems like those in the Main House are caged in a different manner. I wish Neji were here to see it," he said in a wistful voice, "he was kind to you and Hinata, but he still hated the Main House with all his heart."

"I know," Hanabi said sadly, "I only wish he's at peace now." She looked ahead and didn't turn to look at her fiancé so he wouldn't see her struggling to keep her tears down, "I'm lucky," Hanabi murmured sadly. "I should have been in the Branch House by now. It was only because of my sister's softness that I was given a chance to even escape. I feel bad for having benefited from my sister's misfortune—first from her gentleness and second from taking 'her man'—" Hanabi intertwined her fingers with Naruto's, "but I'm still grateful for how things turned out."

"I have to ask," Naruto began, "Why not just become the clan head and change everything? You can save those in the Branch House as well. It seems a bit selfish for you to bail by yourself like this."

"Who said I wasn't selfish?" she said in a soft tone. She released his hand and faced him with a smile. She stepped forward and hugged him tightly, shocking him with her sudden boldness. "If I had been selfless, I would have left you to my sister. But, I'm not. I'm a horrible person who looks out for myself before anyone else."

Naruto chuckled and patted her on the head while holding her close. "Oh, I don't believe that. Give yourself some credit. You tried to cover for your sister the other day and I know you visit the graveyards of your old teammates whenever you have a chance. You're not heartless by any means."

Hanabi froze. How did he know that?

She melted into his arms again when she remembered that she resigned herself to being completely read by the Sage. It wouldn't matter in twenty-four hours anyway. He'd become her husband and know her intimately and understand her more than anyone else in the world. They were going to become _one_.

"Then I'm a coward," she said into his chest, with her eyes closed. "Too scared to try and change what seems unchangeable. You already know that I'm marrying you out of fear as well."

She didn't have to explain about her own clan and the masked man. Naruto would immediately get it.

"And yet, you're willing to try and figure out who I am, even while knowing that you might not like what you see," Naruto whispered. "I could be the reincarnation of the Kyuubi for all you know."

"Hah. As if the Kyuubi would act as idiotic as you do sometimes," she laughed before becoming serious. "It's because you're warm," Hanabi replied, giving him a soft squeeze to prove her point. "The fact that you're warm means that you're alive. You too have thoughts, feelings, dreams, and fears like I do, even if you are an S-rank. That's enough for me to look past whatever mask you have on and disregard what other people say about you. I know better than anyone else what it's like to put up a mask and not be known for who I really am. Or maybe I'm just too tired," Hanabi continued in a weary tone. "I'm tired of making my life a daily struggle, especially over something so pathetic. The members of my family fear their own family. How sad is that kind of world? I could change the exterior and get rid of the Caged Bird Seal for future generations, but the resentment from the past will still be there. I don't want to have to be the target of all that hate."

"And that's something I can understand. The desire to be free and the weariness of constant fighting. Our job as ninjas requires fighting, but I like to think that fighting is something we do when there's nothing else we can do. Yet we're being asked to do it day and night without end."

She nodded and smirked. "See! We know each other so well even if we haven't been all that close. I can understand you and you can understand me!"

"So in the end, you're saying that you know me in and out," Naruto laughed, as he grabbed her cheeks with both hands. "Typical Hyuuga arrogance."

"I agree but I'm going to deny that I did if you try to tell anyone else," Hanabi smiled and nodded the best she could with her head in his hands. "But frankly, it's more that I want to get to know you. I don't pretend to understand and recognize every detail about you just yet. I only have a glimpse of your soul." She paused. "But that's okay. I'll slowly discover everything about you. Good or bad, I'll be satisfied with getting to discern who you are."

"Why me?" Naruto asked curiously.

"I don't know," Hanabi said honestly. "There's just something about you that draws me to you."

Naruto leaned closer. "As for me, I like your spirit, your passion, your pride. I respect all of those qualities. But that's not all," he admitted, "there's just something about you that intrigues me."

Hanabi could feel her heart beating faster. _This _time, it was during the evening in an isolated forest. There would be no interruptions.

She closed her eyes.

Hanabi slowly moved her arms around his neck as he slid his arms around her waist. She felt a warm fire rise up in her as she waited.

Then she felt it.

A kiss on her forehead.

Her eyes snapped open in slight surprise and mild disappointment when she felt him pull away.

* * *

**Secret Hospital Room, Konoha – March 26, AK 22**

"Sakura," Ino grabbed her best friend's hand and pressed it lightly. "It pains me to say this, but your boyfriend is getting married tomorrow."

There was nothing but the beeps coming from the EKG.

Ino wanted to cry out in frustration. It wasn't supposed to be this way. This wasn't what they had imagined when they dreamed about becoming ninjas. The dreams about boys and being saved by Sasuke Uchiha were obviously childish dreams, but their hopes to build a better world were not. So why was everything going wrong?

"Naruto seems resigned. He's already given up so much for the village. He's given everything: his best efforts, his life, and now his soul. He's angry, Sakura. He loved you with all his heart and now, he is being forced to throw that away as well. Just what are we fighting for, Sakura?"

"For peace. For the unborn children who have yet to take a breath in this world."

"Shikamaru." Ino didn't bother turning around. It was partially his fault that everything had become the mess it was.

"I figured you'd be here. I heard from Kakashi."

Ino gave a small nod. "Naruto knows."

"And he's mature enough to push his own feelings aside," Shikamaru said softly. "You're an A-rank ninja and you still haven't learned that life is cruel."

"Do you really think that Naruto is pushing his feelings aside?" Ino asked sadly. "I saw him, you know." She paused. "He wasn't happy in the least. I could tell that there was anger and resentment. He's about to snap if he hasn't already."

"I trust Naruto."

"You _trust_ him?" Ino asked angrily. "Is that your only response? You have faith in him. You believe in him. Is that your excuse to use his entire life as a sacrifice for those who never used to even look at him? Shikamaru, that's just a convenient excuse you and Kakashi came up with to justify all your actions against him. I saw it. He's breaking up inside. You are creating your own nightmare. One day, he'll be gone and you'll wonder where you went wrong. I'm telling you here and now that you may have already lost him. Don't be surprised if he betrays us or something like that."

"I wouldn't blame him either," Shikamaru said with a sigh. "He's given his life for the village multiple times and it's a miracle that he's alive. He's given his time and energy over and over again when we needed him. Now he's given his heart and soul for the village as well. I understand that he's probably no more than a living husk at this point. I understand he's given up more than anyone else in the history of this village with the exception of Itachi."

Itachi…

Ino's security clearance was finally high enough to see the truth behind the Uchiha massacre. As much as Sasuke caused pain for her and for the entire world, she couldn't blame him. She probably would have done the same in that situation.

"And?" Ino asked.

"And nothing," Shikamaru insisted. "What would you have us do? Would you like to volunteer to go slaughter all of Konoha's enemies?"

"I couldn't," she responded. "I don't have the ability to do so."

"And neither do I," Shikamaru agreed. "The only person who _can_ do it is Naruto which is why we keep having to go to him. Konoha's pretty much a one-trick pony at this point and Naruto is our only trick. But it's a trick that has worked every damn time without fail. The situation is so troublesome because we're in deep shit either way."

Ino suddenly understood the implications of what Shikamaru was saying. "You…" she gasped. "You're doing this on purpose!" She pointed a shaking finger at his friend. "You're going to have him kill you one day to appease his anger."

He nodded. "It's something I've come to terms with already. I'm going to abuse the hell out of Naruto as much as I can and then have him kill me. It's the only way I can ensure the survival of this village. There's not much I can do in life than think and come up with strategies so perhaps in death I can actually do something to push the fires of war away just a little bit further."

"Is Kakashi in on this?" Ino asked in a hushed voice, still in shock.

"No, I doubt he knows. He's too caught up in the past to see what is happening with Naruto. He's trying to make up for all his failures in the past by betting everything on Naruto. It's what Obito Uchiha would have wanted in his younger years. But Kakashi doesn't understand that Naruto is not Obito. Naruto is no longer a thirteen year old brat who wants acknowledgment and affection."

"Then it's just you. B…b…but," Ino stammered, "But what about Temari? What about any children you might have with Temari in the future?"

He gave her a sad look. "The Fourth Hokage sacrificed himself and his son. I should be able to do the same. At the very least, my children will have Temari around to take care of them."

"Y…you…you're willing to go that far?"

"It'd be troublesome to go through the process of child-rearing anyway. I always did want to end up dying much earlier than my wife," Shikamaru chuckled lightly in a lame attempt at a joke.

Ino walked up to him and slapped him. Hard.

"You _bastard_! You're just running away and trying to ease your guilt by dying. Instead of looking to die, you should be trying to figure a way out of this mess with that brain of yours. You don't just have a responsibility towards the village; you have a responsibility to your wife and your future kids!"

The shadow user didn't even flinch or wince in pain. "There is nothing we can do. There's only so much you can do with only a few pieces on the chessboard. If you have another plan, I'm all ears, Ino."

With that, he walked out.

Ino clenched her fist in anger and frustration. Damn it. Damn it all.

She turned to look at Sakura. "It might be best if you never woke up, Sakura. This world is really ugly. Any dream world you're in right now is probably like heaven in comparison."

* * *

AN: Yet another chapter with more fluff and plot building. I wanted to blaze through the fluff as soon as possible and get to the meat of the story, which is more action/adventure-oriented, but I found out that developing the story is taking a lot more space than I had anticipated. The action is coming in a few chapters. I promise. At least I_ hope._

This didn't seem nearly as tedious and long when I first outlined it. I'll excuse myself by saying that I'm still doing a lot of character/relationship building. So more Naruto X Hanabi moments to come in the immediate future.

So, yes this is a bit complicated. Naruto is attracted to Hanabi and enjoys spending time with her. But he doesn't love her. Yet.

And as for the questions I got about the power levels...Remember, I said they are _Konoha's_ estimates, not values that reflected "reality" in this story. For those who can't read between the lines, I'll spell it out for you. Naruto's _true_ values appear something like this:

**Naruto (Golden Sun) – Rank S**

Status: Alive

Official Rank: Elite Jounin, Toad Sage

Battle stats: Intelligence = 4.5 | Strength = 5+ | Speed = 5+ | Chakra Levels/Stamina = 5+ | Chakra Control/Hand Signs = 5

Skill stats: Ninjutsu = 5+ | Genjutsu = 5 | Taijutsu = 5+

Total: 39.5+++++

I was _trying_ to make the point that Konoha repeatedly underestimates and undervalues Naruto. Even a value of 39.5 probably underestimates how powerful Naruto is once you factor in his multiple abilities and versatility. My goal is to get you to get annoyed with Konoha as much as possible but as _slowly_ as possible. I suppose the fact that twenty indignant people PM'ed me or left reviews about how Naruto should be smarter/stronger is a sign that I'm doing something right.

The only two who stand a chance against Naruto are Kokuten and _maybe_ Sasuke. Kokuten is special and well, Sasuke has the ultimate godmode in the Sharingan. It's really unfortunate how ridiculously overpowered the Sharingan is in the manga and I just decided to keep that theme in this story as well. It'll only make the eventual beat-down of Sasuke that much more satisfying to write.

Is this a "Dark Naruto" story? You tell me. None of his values have changed at all. He still wishes to protect those close to him and achieve peace in the world. Naruto merely sees Konoha as an obstacle to peace. I did mention before that this _was_ an anti-Konoha story. Will Naruto betray Konoha? Maybe. Or maybe not. I suppose it depends on your definition of betrayal. But wow…if you think about it…Konoha is completely _fucked_. They have Sasuke after them, Kokuten (whom Konoha _incorrectly_ believes is Sasuke) after them, and a Naruto who is completely disillusioned with Konoha and the idea of the Will of Fire. Bye-bye Konoha. Haha.


	13. Engagement - Knots

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. This is fanfiction, after all.

* * *

**Rocky Plains, Gelel Continent – March 27, AK 22**

"I hope you appreciate this, Sasuke," Suigetsu growled, "It wasn't easy getting time off to come here with you."

It had taken every trick in the book to convince the damn redhead to let him take a month-long vacation and understandably so. He was the strongest ninja they had in the village and his loyalty was still…uncertain. The Mizukage's advisors had been adamant about keeping him on a tight leash, as they were worried that he might stage a coup d'état.

Suigetsu grinned at the thought. They were right to be worried.

He had never gone back to Kiri to be some sort of lapdog. He was going to be the greatest swordsman of all time. For that, he needed the seven special swords that were once held by the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.

Zabuza's old Kubikiribocho that he had at the end of the last war hadn't been enough to satiate him; he had wanted all seven of them.

"Don't complain. I could have made you take the month-long boat ride here. Don't misunderstand our positions here. I do not need you to execute my plans. You're merely a catalyst to make things go faster. But _you_ need my help to become the Mizukage."

Suigetsu shrugged. "I don't really care for the position. You're the one who claims I want to be Mizukage," he lied.

Sasuke just gave him a stare. "If you want to be a pawn of someone else, by all means, go prostrate yourself to that _woman_."

Suigetsu grinned again. In the past, the sexist barb would have made him fly at the other man in rage. He always had believed that women were naturally weaker and thus should be in the kitchen where they belonged. But Suigetsu was now much better in control of his emotions. He wouldn't let Sasuke's mind tricks get to him anymore.

"Hah, as if. I'm already stronger than she is. Her bloodline abilities don't affect me at all."

"But you won't be able to take on the entire village by yourself. There _will_ be an earth or lightning user in your ranks. You rely almost exclusively on your own bloodline ability for your defense."

"Not anymore," he argued back. "Don't forget that I am a swordsman and move faster than most people in the world. Don't look down on me just because my genetics restrict me to only one element. And I should remind you that I have three of the seven special swords in my possessions, including the Kiba, which allows me to use electricity myself."

Suigetsu summoned the twin swords and held them out threateningly in front of Sasuke's face for good measure. He wasn't going to let the asshole Uchiha look down on him.

"Whatever, I couldn't care less about your skillset. I just want to weaken the great villages. So are you in or are you not?" Sasuke asked curtly.

"I'm in, of course," Suigetsu declared loudly as he sent away his blades. "Chaos, bloodshed, and power. What more could I want?"

Sasuke was quiet at that. Suigetsu didn't have to guess what the Uchiha was thinking. It was clear that Sasuke didn't like his tendencies to be brutal.

Suigetsu mentally scoffed. _He's as soft as ever. In some ways, he's just like that Naruto bastard. I really hate that self-righteousness of theirs._

He shook his head. He'll kill Sasuke later for being such an idiot. For now, he needed the Uchiha's help. "So what is it that you have planned out?"

Sasuke frowned lightly. "It's probably better to show it to you. It's what you will use as your trump card against your village."

"Oh?" Suigetsu folded his arms. "Let's see this amazing weapon of yours."

Sasuke held up a hand sign. "Activate."

Suigetsu immediately felt himself weaken and fall to the ground.

He began to panic. As a Hozuki, he regularly had large amounts of chakra running through his body. Not only was it useful in preventing him from being caught off-guard—he could just liquefy at any time—it was a good way to increase chakra stamina.

But now, he could feel his entire chakra network shutting down.

_Slash!_

He winced and his eyes widened when Sasuke's sword managed to draw blood.

"Wh…what…the hell? Suigetsu gasped out weakly as he grit his teeth. Sasuke released his hand sign and Suigetsu felt energy rush into his body. "What the hell was that?" Suigetsu demanded as he nursed the throbbing arm. It was just a small scratch, but it had been a while since he was injured. He was not new to the sensation of pain but it had been a while since he felt _sharp_ pain. "How did you manage to block my bloodline technique?"

Sasuke's response was to hold up a glowing stone. "This is a Gelel Stone." Suigetsu looked curiously at the green rock. "It naturally repels chakra, but I have developed a way for it to nullify almost all the chakra within a specific radius. It's still a work in progress, but I daresay you can feel the effects for yourself."

Suigetsu growled at the small insult as he cradled his injured arm.

"A rock that negates chakra? Even chakra within the body?" Suigetsu breathed out, "That's ridiculous."

"But it's the truth, nonetheless," Sasuke declared, as he repeatedly tossed the green stone up in the air. "It also acts as an energy source. It's anywhere from five to ten times more potent than chakra."

Suigetsu gave Sasuke another disbelieving look. "Ten times? That's potent enough to put it on par with chakra from the bijuu."

"A force of nature to combat a force of nature," Sasuke replied. "People like Killer Bee and Naruto may have _more_ of their special chakra, but with the power of the Gelel flux, we'll be able to match the potency of their chakra. Any technique we use with the Gelel flux is five to ten times stronger with the same amount we would normally use, giving us much greater stamina. Furthermore, it's nowhere near as poisonous as bijuu chakra sometimes is and can be channeled in greater amounts at one time."

"I see," Suigetsu began wrapping up his wound. Liquefying would do nothing to wounds he already incurred in his body. He would have to heal the normal way. "You must have reach the limits of your chakra capacity if you're trying out something like this."

Sasuke nodded grimly. "I realized that a while ago. No matter how hard I trained, only my reserves grew. I had more chakra in my body, but I still wasn't able to force out more at one time. The only way to bypass that is to strengthen the chakra itself." Sasuke's eyes grew hard. "But in the end, we're only human. There are limits to what we can naturally do. The answer to all my problems was the Gelel Stone, a power created by nature itself."

"Not to mention that you've become even more annoying by figuring out a way to negate other people's abilities," Suigetsu groaned. "In any case, a power like this must have some sort of drawback or weakness. You of all people should know that power is never freely available."

The Uchiha smirked. "There is a drawback, but I have already gotten around that. This is similar to a bloodline technique; only certain people can manipulate the Gelel flux inside these stones."

Suigetsu groaned again. "And you just_ happened _to be one of those people? Damn, Sasuke, I don't mean to be rude, but you never work for anything in your life. You just always pull some sort of power out of your ass. You become more annoying to deal with every time I see you."

Sasuke looked outraged at the statement, but didn't comment on it. "It required years of work, you dunce. Do you know how difficult perfecting DNA splicing was? It took years to fully replicate Orochimaru's technology. We still haven't figured out how Kabuto altered it to combine multiple bloodlines together, but we've managed to modify it for our own means. We're now able to change our body types to one that is compatible with the stone."

Sasuke lifted up his shirt to show the three Gelel Stones embedded in his chest. Suigetsu rolled his eyes when he saw that the three green stones had been carved to look like the tomoe in the Sharingan.

Only Sasuke was that self-absorbed.

"So what are you saying? That you'll change my body?"

Sasuke nodded. "Yes, but there's a catch. We can't implant the stones into you; you'll lose all ability to use chakra." Sasuke gestured towards himself. "I've managed to figure out ways to use many of my chakra techniques using the Gelel flux, but it took a long time of practice. And for you, that wouldn't even work."

"Because of my own bloodline," Suigetsu nodded. "The moment I liquefy, the stones would fall out of my body."

It was for the better anyway. Sasuke might enjoy it, but Suigetsu didn't want some strange and hard things stuck in his body. He shuddered slightly. That just wasn't…right. There was a line even he wouldn't cross.

"So you'll have to carry a couple of the Gelel Stones around. While you won't be nearly as proficient with the Gelel flux as I am, you'll be able to wield both chakra and Gelel flux and switch between them whenever you like. The only training you'll need it to get your body able to run purely on Gelel flux. That way, you won't collapse whenever you activate the nullification seals that I made. But I want to warn you that this is a long-term project. You're not going to master this in a few months."

Suigetsu smirked. It didn't matter. Eventually, the redhead would go down and all the swords would be his.

Then Sasuke or not, Suigetsu would make the world his oyster.

* * *

**Konoha Village Square, Konoha – March 27, AK 22**

Hanabi nervously checked herself over in the mirror. She was beginning to feel that the wedding was more trouble than it was worth. She was a ninja, not a princess. She was wearing a tradition white wedding kimono with the Hyuuga clan crest emblazoned on her back in red, black, and gold.

"Stop looking at yourself obsessively. You look gorgeous."

Hanabi smiled before turning to one of her few remaining friends. It was Mimi Tajiri, a chuunin that Hanabi worked with on missions in the last few years. Mimi was only a year older and so they had quickly become fast friends. Unlike many of the others who stayed away because Hanabi was a princess of the most influential clan in the village, Mimi just acted casually and like her usual bright self. Even though their ranks were different and their statuses were worlds apart, they were able to talk to each other.

Even though Mimi was technically her closest friend, Hanabi wouldn't necessarily call Mimi a _close_ friend—Hanabi didn't have any of those—but Mimi was probably the nearest thing to that.

"Mimi, I can't just look 'gorgeous' at my own wedding. I have to look perfect."

Hanabi looked at herself in the mirror again, pausing in surprise at her desire to look beautiful for the man she was marrying. She wanted to impress him and to impress the entire village. Right now, the entire world believed that she was getting the better deal in this marriage. But she would show them. She would make the men jealous of _him_.

The green-haired girl laughed as her eyes twinkled. "Don't lie, Hanabi. I can tell that you're trying to look pretty for _him_. Not that I blame you, of course."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hanabi said a bit heatedly.

Mimi giggled again. "Oh come on, you're marrying the village hero! So don't try to hide the fact that you're excited. You never showed any interest in a guy, but it seems like you've fallen hard."

"I have not 'fallen' for Naruto," Hanabi denied, even though her pink face completely gave her away.

"Right," Mimi smiled. "I believe you. _NOT!_"

Hanabi rolled her eyes at her friend's antics and decided to fire off her own barbs. "You're the one who was on the same team with him for the Chuunin Exams. Are you sure _you_ don't have a crush on my soon-to-be husband?"

The other girl laughed and put on a guilty face. "You got me! Don't take this in the wrong way, but I wouldn't mind being in your place at all. Naruto is strong and kind, even if he is a little rough at times. There were so many times that he would encourage me whenever I got down over the last few years." Mimi went starry-eyed for a bit before becoming somewhat serious. "But I have another person I'm interested in."

"And I'm going to give you a ridiculously hard time once you start going out with him." Hanabi promised. "Especially if that boyfriend is Konohamaru," she added the last part with a mutter.

Hanabi hadn't implied anything by that. It was just that Konohamaru was incredibly annoying all week. He was normally a bit pushy and crass, but he was irritating on an unprecedented level this time. She could have done without all the sexual innuendos.

"That's not fair!" the other girl complained. "I didn't even get a chance to tease you at all! You've been engaged for like half a month." Hanabi raised an eyebrow when the girl blushed ever so slightly.

_Ah. So she has a crush on him! Who knew…_ Hanabi smirked. If things went well, she could kill two birds with one stone. "Konohamaru likes girls with dark green hair and green eyes."

"Hah!" Mimi stuck out her tongue in a juvenile manner, "I'm not falling for that one."

"I'm not lying," Hanabi said with a knowing smile. "I promise."

"It's not relevant to me!" Mimi insisted. "I have no feelings for Captain Sarutobi."

"Captain?" Hanabi asked curiously, smelling blood around her. Mimi wasn't normally one to attach titles to names like that. It was clear that she greatly respected Hanabi's training partner.

"I only know him from my missions," Mimi hastily replied, "And he's always the captain when I get placed on a team with him."

Hanabi rolled her eyes at the pathetic attempt at an excuse. "Just admit it!" She smirked. "I can see through you and your lies with my Byakugan! Besides, I know that Naruto was the one who introduced you to Konohamaru. So you didn't just meet him on missions," Mimi's stubborn look didn't disappear from her face. Hanabi's smile grew wider. "In any case, I'm not lying. He told me he used to have a crush on this girl with green hair and green eyes in the past. She moved away and it was reported that her family was killed, so he didn't want to talk about it too much, but he did say he liked her because of her hair color."

"And?" Hanabi kept smirking. Mimi was skilled at hiding her feelings. Hanabi decided to use another method.

"You should make a move fast. He's been going on lunch and dinner dates with girls that his family sets him up with."

It was for a brief instant, but Mimi didn't look too pleased with that. "Whatever, that's none of my business."

"I personally don't want drama," Hanabi went on with a casual wave of her hand. "So I'm not going to get involved. But he has been asking me to set him up with girls that aren't quite so…I quote…'annoying and prim' as the ones his family sets him up with."

Hanabi mentally roared with laughter as she saw the torn look on her friend's face. On one hand, the girl didn't want to admit to having a crush. On the other, she didn't want to miss out on a rare opportunity to get closer to her crush.

Hanabi was going to declare victory and go for the kill when she saw her attendants signaling to her.

"Lady Hanabi, it is time."

Hanabi nodded. "I will be out shortly." She turned to Mimi who somehow looked both disappointed and relieved at the same time. "Thanks for keeping me company. I really appreciate it."

"Anytime, Hanabi. What are best friends for, right?"

Hanabi felt a pang in her heart at that as the girl left. It wasn't that she felt guilty, but Hanabi still wanted to keep Mimi a bit further away from her heart. If they became even closer and then Mimi died…

Hanabi shook her head. It wasn't the time to be thinking about things like that.

She turned and looked at the headpiece that she had prepared herself and smiled at the words on it. It would definitely surprise everyone watching.

Half an hour later, Hanabi was walking next to her father somberly towards where Naruto was waiting.

As she walked through the crowd, she noticed that nearly the entire village was watching. Men and women, children and the elderly were all present to watch the union of the princess of the strongest village in Konoha to the future Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village. She let a small smirk appear on her face when she saw Naruto's students standing with Konohamaru in a corner. Those brats pretended to hate Naruto's guts, but it was clear that they loved him dearly.

Hanabi also saw—with ambivalent feelings—that a stoic Hinata was there, standing with the rest of her clan. Hanabi couldn't blame her sister for being angry, but at the same time, she wished that her sister were there to support her rather than standing there out of duty.

Hanabi mentally sighed. She hated all this drama. Hanabi continued to look around. She could see Mimi and some of her other friends in the crowd. Everyone she ever knew in Konoha was there at her wedding. Even the Hokage, the Kazekage, the Fire Daimyo, and all of the clan heads were present.

She peered at Naruto as she reached him. He was wearing a black and gray kimono with his clan crest emblazoned on his back in gold. She resisted the urge to grin as his eyes widened upon seeing her.

No doubt that he found her beautiful, but she noticed his eyes had widened particularly when he saw what she was wearing on her head.

She was wearing a _tsunokakushi_ that had the kanji for "promise" written on it on her head.

_Flashback_

_"Remember, I could have asked for any girl in the entire village. I picked you out of the thousands of girls in the village. Heck, I could have had my pick out of the hundreds of thousands of girls throughout the Elemental Nations. But I chose _you_."_

_End Flashback_

It was clear that Naruto understood the significance immediately. The _tsunokakushi_ was worn to veil the bride's horns of jealousy, ego, and selfishness and to show her resolve to be a gentle and obedient wife. He would immediately understand that his promise to her was her _tsunokakushi_. She would trust him and believe in him and in exchange, she would be a wife that would reduce his problems instead of adding to them.

Still, the look in his eyes was incredulous. She could almost see him screaming, "What the hell were you thinking?"

She smiled. Judging by the urgent whispers going around, she doubted that the Hyuuga clan elders would be happy at her choice of attire. And judging by the now outraged look on her sister's face neither was Hinata.

Hanabi didn't care.

This was her day and not theirs. She would proudly walk with Naruto to where the Hokage, Kazekage, and the Daimyo were waiting and then show the entire world that she was _his_.

When she reached the front, she stood to face her fiancé. The Hokage began the ceremony as they clasped their hands together. As the Hokage gave a small speech, she internally smirked as she saw the jealous looks among the crowd: the women, of her; the men, of the Toad Sage. They exchanged drinks, and exchanged vows, marking them as husband and wife.

Naruto looked at her mischievously, eyes briefly flickering to her _tsunokakushi,_ and turned to the entire crowd, expectedly breaking from tradition.

Fortunately, this was planned and Naruto had already received permission from the Sixth and the Daimyo to address the crowd.

It was a sign of respect for the Toad Sage, the Golden Sun of Konoha.

"My fellow villagers," Naruto announced. Hanabi noticed that many of the villagers cringed, almost as if they expected another prank. Hanabi would have laughed if the situation allowed for it. "Today, you have witnessed the union between the clan head of the Uzumaki clan and the princess of the Hyuuga clan. Our marriage symbolizes unity within Konoha and the strength that such unity brings us. I, however, stand before you not as a clan head, but as a simple man, declaring his eternal commitment to his wife to the entire world. Hanabi Uzumaki is now my wife, my partner, and the one I will come to love above all else. She is mine and I am hers. I shall guard her mind and body with every fiber of my being as she has now become the other half of my very soul. This I swear to the heavens!"

There was a stunned silence.

Eyes were wide and jaws had dropped. Everyone knew that the marriage was political one and hadn't expected such fervent declaration of…well…whatever Naruto just declared.

But that hadn't been the most astonishing part.

Naruto's final sentence was a veiled threat. Hanabi knew that his statement was his acknowledgment of her commitment but was still shocked that Naruto would be so bold as to _threaten_ anyone who would dare come near her with less than pure intentions in _public_ in front of some of the most influential people in the country.

Naruto turned to her with a bright smile and took out a gold ring embedded with many small diamonds, each with the Uzumaki clan crest carved in them. The slightly larger diamond on the top was raised a few millimeters higher than the rest.

Hanabi gave him a curious look. Given the design, it was clear that the ring was meant to stay on her finger even during battle. As he placed it on her finger, she turned on her Byakugan quickly and shut it off before anyone noticed and let out a small gasp.

The entire ring was covered in seals and flowing with both chakra and wind-natured chakra. The only way that was possible was if Naruto had made the entire ring himself, from the shaping of the gold to the embedding of the diamonds.

Hanabi mindlessly went through the motions of placing her own ring on his finger and just stared at him dumbly as she stood their stunned by how much thought he had effort he had given to make this as special as he could for her. She was jolted from her thoughts when she felt him leaning down and giving her a kiss. She froze for a second and then, as she heard the crowd cheer, found it easier than she expected to respond back as passionately as she could.

* * *

**Hokage's Office, Konoha – March 28, AK 22**

Kakashi looked at one of his closest confidants in disbelief.

"You want to what?" Kakashi waited for a response, but after receiving none, he repeated his question. "I don't think I heard that properly the first time you asked. What was it that you wanted to do?"

Shikamaru, no, _Dragon_, stood their with his arms folded. "I want to take an advanced squad and search for this masked man for a week or two."

"Why?"

Based on the reports from the members of Team Hanabi, this man was a master ninja who could take easily take down multiple elites. Sending men out to specifically search for such a dangerous man was probably not a good idea.

"We need to confirm if this man is Sasuke or not. If he _is_ Sasuke and he is working with Kabuto, then we need to take him out as soon as we can. We can't let those two disturb the little peace we have managed to achieve."

Kakashi shook his head. "I already put Ibiki on the case. He's already in contact with our operatives in the Land of Rice Fields. If they can't come up with anything, then it's not likely that you will."

"Kakashi, they barely were able to discover that Oto has come back. How will they discover an S-rank ninja who can teleport all over the place at will?

"And how will _you_ find him, then?" Kakashi returned. "You'll just be wandering around like blind mice in the dark. Given this ninja's power, he could slaughter all of you before you even knew he was there."

"But he won't," Dragon insisted. "He left Team Hanabi alive for a reason. He could have chosen to hide himself and let them die. Or if he absolutely needed to test these strange seals, then he could have removed the witnesses after he did. The fact that he left Team Hanabi alive makes it more likely that it is Sasuke or at least someone with deep connections to Konoha. He might be trying to send us a message."

"It's too risky," Kakashi argued. "The only two people we could even think about sending out are Gai and Naruto. Gai is out on his own mission right now and Naruto will be on his honeymoon starting tomorrow. You chose an odd time to make your request."

Dragon paused before explaining himself. "It's that strange power of his. I read the reports repeatedly. I don't think the seals were designed just to prevent the user from getting hurt."

Kakashi froze. What did that mean? Did Dragon figure out a secondary purpose to those seals? "Then?"

"Why would this man try to seek the limits of chakra nullification with such a huge technique? It's just a theory, but I think this man is aiming to start a war."

Kakashi's breath hitched. War already? Who would be that eager to cause so many deaths? All the nations were still recovering from the last war.

"That's more of a reason for me to keep you in reserve," Kakashi said stubbornly, "I'll need you as the lead strategist when war finally breaks out. What is this really about Dragon? You're usually not this reckless. What's going on?"

He wasn't willing to lose one of Konoha's greatest assets on a mission that might end up being fruitless. Information was generally valuable, but the ability to process and use that information was even more valuable. Shikamaru, the ANBU Commander Dragon, was too important a piece to lose.

"Ino came to me the other day," Dragon said in a soft tone, "and said that we're putting too much on Naruto's back. I understand that he's our ace, but we can't rely on him for everything. I'm much better at covert operations than he is so I'm more suited for this task."

"Only until you actually run into him." Kakashi shook his head again. Dragon was being oddly stubborn today. "Then you'll be out of your league. This man used more chakra in one attack than the amount an elite jounin had in her entire body. No matter how you look at it, this is a suicide mission."

"When did we all become cowards?" Dragon hissed. "Casualties are part of our business. The last two years were an aberration because we overworked Naruto. You can't keep expecting near zero casualty rates like that."

"That doesn't mean I have to send you! Do you have a death wish or something?"

There was a long silence at that. Kakashi began to wonder if the Nara _did _in fact want to die.

"No, it has to be me. My techniques give me the best chance of capturing this man and interrogating him."

"Did you forget that this man has found a way to nullify chakra completely? Without chakra, you'll be helpless."

"I'm gambling that this man is Sasuke," Dragon argued. "Evil or not, Sasuke won't just brutally kill me because we grew up together. Furthermore, Sasuke knows that I'm one of Naruto's friends. You know that those two have some sort of accord."

Kakashi placed his hands under his chin and considered that. It was true that Sasuke treated Naruto and by extension, Naruto's friends, differently than he would others. Even during the height of the tensions between the two, Sasuke swore to kill Naruto's friends in front of Naruto to make him suffer even more.

"If you're gambling that this is Sasuke, then you must have some idea why Sasuke would be doing something like this. I want to hear your theory before making any decision."

"I don't think it was a declaration of war or anything, at least not yet, but I think it was a warning to us."

"A threat?"

"More or less. My guess is that Sasuke wants the truth about his clan revealed."

"That's impossible. The Uchiha clan is still revered as one of the greatest clans in the history of the village, if not the world. To reveal that Konoha had such a rocky relationship with them to the point that they wanted to stage a coup d'état would be undermining everything we worked for."

"I doubt Sasuke cares about that," Dragon said in a low tone. "Sasuke always had a bit of tunnel vision, not being able to see what was around him. From his perspective, Konoha is living in harmony that was purchased through the blood of his clansmen and family. He would probably want to come back to show that Konoha is less than perfect. Even after discovering that his clan was full of traitors, he probably saw them as the honorable ones in the dispute."

"But why now?" Kakashi hissed. "It makes no sense to wait over six years!"

"Experimentation. Development of new techniques," Dragon explained. "We thought that he was traveling the world to do some soul-searching. But during that time, he must have fed his thirst for revenge while carefully planning the means to carry it out. It would explain why he partnered up with Kabuto." Dragon paused. "This is, of course, assuming that this unknown man _is_ Sasuke. While all the evidence we have points to Sasuke, we don't have much evidence to begin with. My hunch says that this is Sasuke or someone very closely involved with Sasuke, but that's not enough."

Kakashi debated on what to do. Kakashi knew by Dragon's tone and attitude that Dragon would go seek out this unknown man with or without permission. That would be suicide. But if Kakashi equipped him with other qualified ninjas…

All the S-ranks were currently unavailable. Kakashi was the Hokage and couldn't leave on a mission. Gai was out of the village on a mission. Naruto was going away on his honeymoon.

It would have to be A-ranks then.

A squad of four A-ranks _might_ stand a chance against a S-rank. But at the same time, if they all died, then it would be a huge blow against Konoha.

"Alright," Kakashi relented. "You can take anyone you want. But you have to tell them of the risks involved. Take about a few days to prepare."

Dragon nodded. "I will. And thanks."

"Mind telling me who you're planning on taking?" Kakashi asked as Dragon turned to leave.

"Sai, Aoba, and Anko."

It was a good team. Anko would be for tracking and interrogation. Even if they didn't capture the man, she had methods of extracting information from just a conversation alone. Aoba would provide a cover, especially against the Sharingan, while Shikamaru would be both long-range support and capturer. Sai would be for relaying messages to the rest of the team or back to Konoha with the information they gathered. And best of all, Sai was on the cusp of being an S-rank himself.

It was a team built for reconnaissance and espionage, but was a team strong enough to handle almost anything.

"Good luck," Kakashi said as Dragon left.

"Thanks."

After he felt Dragon's presence disappear, Kakashi opened a drawer to look at a picture of him with his students.

One of his students was in a near permanent coma and might as well be dead.

One probably wished he were dead from all the horrors he saw on his missions over the last few years.

The last wanted to make everyone else dead for whatever reason.

Kakashi wondered why everything in his life was always so messy.

* * *

**Hyuuga Clan Compound, Konoha – March 27, AK 22**

"What is the meaning of this, Son?!"

Hiashi mentally winced but kept a stoic look on his face. "I assure you, Grand Elder, that I had nothing to do with what my daughter chose to wear. I had stern words with her attendants. It seems that Hanabi planned it by herself."

"This is an absolute disgrace! A princess from the Hyuuga clan declaring herself submissive and beneath her husband? That and considering that our remaining princess is a weakling, we'll be the laughingstock of Konoha soon!" shouted one elder, named Sakuma.

Hiashi resisted the urge to pound the elder's face in for calling Hinata weak. He knew Hinata _was_ weak, but that didn't give anyone else to openly label her as such. It was only his right to do so, as a father.

"Silence!" his father commanded. "The Hyuuga clan's strength does not lie only within its head. Our entire clan is strong and as such we will…survive this humiliation. My first granddaughter, despite being unsuited for the position of the clan head in personality, has shown drastic increases in power in recent years."

"Perhaps. A mediocre B-rank status would be have been more than enough for the _wife_ of a male Hyuuga head, but given that our last two heads were A-ranks, it may give the appearance that we are losing strength," said another elder, this one named Kobayashi.

Hiashi narrowed his eyes at that despite feeling pleased with the compliment given towards him and his father. There were four other Main House families, with each allowed one direct heir to the line, with Hiashi's being the royal family line. Hiashi's own family line had been heads for at least five generations. Because Hinata was deemed weak, she would be married to a strong male from another of the Main House families, presumably a family with two sons. One of the sons would remain as the heir of _that_ family, while the other would marry Hinata to become the head of _Hiashi's_ line. It was rarely done in the past to keep the families completely separate so that there would remain some genetic diversity within the Hyuuga family. While Hinata's daughter or son would still be officially declared as the royal line, that is, part of Hiashi's line, what this elder was suggesting was tantamount to usurping royal power.

If there were someone strong, then Hiashi might not have had a choice. But fortunately for him at that moment, aside from the middle-aged Sakuma, there were no A-ranks in the other families in the Main House. By rank, Hinata was tied for the strongest amongst those who could potentially become the clan head, even if most people thought that she barely was B-rank in level.

"That may be an option we may have to pursue, Kobayashi," Hiashi murmured contemplatively. "For now, we will declare Hinata as the Crown Princess. Her progress has been intriguing to say the least. We will give her another year or two to prove her strength before thinking of other avenues to pursue."

It was probably the best he could do under the circumstances. He would just have to personally train Hinata day and night to raise her strength to what was considered acceptable. Hinata would never become a full A-rank, but perhaps she could graze it often enough for even those in the Main House to respect her power.

"Agreed. The Crown Princess is still young and has not even seen her twenty-third birthday," murmured Hoheto, a man who Hiashi considered most reasonable among all of the elders.

"More importantly," Hiashi interrupted, "we need to consider how we may turn this marriage into our advantage once again. We married the strongest princess in our clan to appear in over five generations to a candidate for the position of Hokage in an attempt to solidify our power in the village."

"And your daughter publicly shamed us as a result!" Sakuma glared at him.

"It would be advisable to remain silent," he threatened, letting loose his aura. Hiashi sent a glare of his own to put the man in his place. Hiashi was the clan head and his decisions would stand. "While this public display of submissiveness," Hiashi slightly felt sick at saying that, "was not favorable to the Hyuuga, I must remind you that all of the Hokages after the First had some tie to a previous Hokage. The Second was the younger brother of the First. The Third was the student of the First and the Second. The Fourth was the apprentice of the Third's student. The Fifth was the granddaughter of the First. The Sixth was the student of the Fourth. There are only two powerful ninjas in the village with any direct blood relations to the previous Hokages: Naruto Uzumaki and Konohamaru Sarutobi. The other members of the Sarutobi clan are weak and the Sixth's other students are either dead or disgraced."

"Uzumaki remains the most likely choice, hm? The son of the Fourth, also an apprentice of the Third's student, the student of the Sixth, surrogate grandson of the Third, and distantly cousin to the Fifth, making him related to both the First and the Second," Hiashi's father listed off. "An incredible pedigree. But what of this Konohamaru Sarutobi, the grandson of the Third?"

"My daughter is a year his junior and his equal in battle. Given what we felt from Uzumaki's aura the other day," there was a shiver that went through all of them, "we know that he can easily demolish half the village before even feeling tired. It would be no contest in a battle of strengths. Uzumaki would be chosen before Sarutobi."

"But our original plan was to increase the standing of the Hyuuga. It would have been Uzumaki achieving the position of the Hokage through his marriage with a strong Hyuuga princess. We had wished to leverage that to gain political favors. As it stands now, however, we merely appear to be desperate fools!"

"Instead of considering my daughter as our link to the village, I believe that we must look further ahead to the future. Any child produced by the marriage between Uzumaki and my daughter will also have the blood of four of our previous leaders on top of being the child of the Hokage. That is not even considering the strength the child will inherit from _my_ daughter. Any child from that union will easily become a future village leader. This public shame is a small cost to pay considering what we have to gain from this."

There was silence at that. The elders had not thought that far.

Hiashi mentally let out a sigh of relief as he saw the elders' anger slowly dissipating. _I take part in it everyday, but I still hate politics. _

"Very well, we will need to impress upon my granddaughter the importance of conceiving as many children as possible."

"But," Hoheto interjected, "Royals and nobles are allowed to take more than one partners. What guarantee is there that the future Hokage in the distant future will be of Hyuuga blood?"

Hiashi frowned at this. He hadn't considered that. Uzumaki generally seemed idealistic and the thought that he would take multiple partners never crossed his radar.

Hiashi's father answered with a small derisive snort. "That boy is idealistic. He would not even consider marrying multiple partners even to save his own clan. There is no threat of other children bearing Uzumaki's blood."

Hiashi nodded. "What we must do is to persuade my daughter to have her children spend time in our clan compound. It would make it much more likely for her children to have a favorable view towards the Hyuuga."

"Agreed. But what shall we do in the meantime?"

"We do nothing. We have already filled many of the departments in the village with members of our clan. There is nothing more we can do. We will merely have to be patient."

"Yes, and one day, the Hyuuga name will come to be spoken in reverence as is done with the extinct Senju clan. We will be the ruling clan in all of Konoha."

* * *

**Uzumaki Clan Compound, Master Bedroom, Konoha – March 27, AK 22**

"I'm surprised that you're not more shaken up by what happened at the reception."

Her husband rolled his eyes. "That's because I expected it to happen. Did you think that my clones just automatically appeared out of thin air immediately after he took that sip of wine?"

"You could have just banned him from coming," Hanabi rolled her eyes. "There was no need for all the theatrics of binding him with chakra-draining seals and encasing him in ice."

Naruto laughed at that. "He's a friend so I wanted him there. That and it was for fun, too. Everyone got a good laugh at seeing Lee locked in a cage of nearly unbreakable ice. It was so funny how he tried to use his head to bash his way out."

"How did you even _make_ ice? Isn't that a bloodline limit?" Hanabi asked curiously. "All I saw you do was wave your hand and he was locked in that ice cage."

He smirked. "Trade secret. But think about it this way. If I had thirty clones ready to tackle him down, don't you think I had also prepared a way to make it so that he could see everything going on but not be able to do any damage?"

She shook her head. "If that's the case, I'm not even going to ask how you did it." She paused and then smirked. "It would be so troublesome to find out." She giggled. She was beginning to feel a bit strange. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about what happened at the wedding itself today. That was rather," she paused to find the right word, "daring of you today to threaten everyone at the wedding."

Her husband rolled his eyes at her. "Tell me you didn't like it." She didn't respond. "I thought so. If anything, your decision to wear what you did was worse. Did you really think it was smart to announce to the world that you would be a gentle, obedient wife?"

Hanabi pouted. She finally understood why she was starting to feel strange. She wasn't fully drunk yet but she was slightly dizzy from all the alcohol she had imbibed that evening and the dizziness was getting more pronounced. She hadn't wanted to make a fool out of herself at the reception itself and hadn't had too much to drink at the reception itself. It was only when she returned to their home that she started drinking wine in excess.

She was now just beginning to feel the full effects of it and she felt much less inhibited. And she had butterflies in her stomach from everything Naruto had done for her that day from his bold announcement to his ring. On top of that, it had been her birthday and Naruto had given her the most meaningful birthday present she ever received in a two small tessens (battle fans) that would complement her dance-like version of the Gentle Fist style. Some other girls might have been somewhat disappointed in the gift, but she could see the tremendous number of seals and chakra flowing through the fans. It would allow her to keep up the appearance of being a noblewoman who didn't carry weapons.

"But I thought you wanted me to be a submissive wife, 'Master.' Don't you like it when I let you dominate me?" she murmured with her eyes closed. "Mmm…'Master,' you feel nice."

_I think I like being drunk a lot._ _This is really pleasant._

She was snuggling up against him in their bed. They had already washed and cleaned and were just unwinding before starting with their "wedding night."

Her husband rolled his eyes again at her antics. "The Hyuuga clan elders must be seething. They thought to control the future Hokage with their daughter, but only find their daughter abandoning the Hyuuga clan altogether. I _had_ to make that threat; otherwise, you might have some assassins after you sent by your own family."

Hanabi shrugged as she tried to find a more comfortable position against him, ignoring the sweat drop that had formed next to his head as her husband watched her. She was too inebriated to care that she was making a fool out of herself. She knew she would regret it in the morning, but couldn't bring herself to care.

"I'm not afraid of them any longer. They have no more hold over me. The one thing they could have done was to place the Caged Bird Seal on me, but with me being your wife, they can't touch me. Not after that stunt you pulled after what my big sister did."

They were silent for a few minutes, just taking comfort in each other's presence. Hanabi continued to shift against him. She wasn't experienced in the least in these kinds of…activities so she had to do a lot of exploring and experimenting on her own. It was another one of the pleasures of being free.

"Stop moving around so much, damn it!" Naruto scolded her lightly, "I'm ticklish."

"Mmmm," Hanabi mumbled, completely ignoring him as she snuggled into him, "you know, you're much more comfortable than I expected. I never thought you'd be this nice of a body pillow."

Her husband twitched she rubbed against him. Her eyes widened for a second when she felt something stiffen, before an evil grin showed itself on her face as she closed her eyes.

"You're doing that on purpose, aren't you?" he growled.

Hanabi leaned back and cracked open an eye before smiling innocently at him. "Doing what?" She rubbed the same area for good measure, this time using her hands, completely ignoring the annoyed look on her husband's face.

"That!"

She gave him a pointed look as she fumbled to get her hands into his robes for more access. "For the student of someone who was supposed to be the pervert of all perverts, you're surprisingly prudish. Weren't you dating Lady Haruno for two years? You can't be inexperienced. I thought you'd be completely ravaging me by now."

There was a tic above her husband's eye and he pulled her hand out from his robes immediately. "I can't believe my wife, my _innocent_ and _inexperienced_ wife who _just _turned eighteen, I might add, is asking about my past sex life! I am so not going to answer that question."

"I see how it is!" she exclaimed in mock anger. "You think I'm not pretty enough to sleep with you!"

Despite her light words, she mentally growled. This was getting ridiculous. She was uninhibited and wanted to sleep with her husband on the night of her wedding. What was wrong with that? She was subtly encouraging him to take the lead, but Naruto was refusing even to follow. She would have to change tactics.

She leaned back and started pouting, making extra effort to look as cute as possible.

"Aren't you a little too old for the puppy eyes tactic?" her husband asked in amusement. "Besides, acting like a ten-year-old probably isn't the best way to get me turned on."

She let out a light "hmph" humorously but was getting more annoyed by the second when he wouldn't respond to her hints.

"Stop being difficult and just relax! You damn jerk!"

"I may be a jerk, but yelling at me on our wedding night probably isn't the best way to start your life as an obedient wife, little firecracker." Her husband was now sporting an evil smirk.

"Ugh!" she groaned in frustration as she pushed away from him.

_Whatever, I'll just get some sleep instead_, she thought, irritated. She was still drunk and dizzy but her mood had completely gone down the drain. _He'll regret it in a few minutes once he realizes that he's not going to get any tonight. _She turned away from him and threw the blanket over her body.

After ten to fifteen minutes of tossing and turning in bed while attempting to fall asleep, she jumped up and tackled her husband on the bed.

"Just sleep with me, damn it!"

Naruto reached to the side to put away the scroll he had been reading while she had been trying to fall asleep. "If you had wanted to begin, then you should have asked nicely instead of trying to go about it in a roundabout fashion."

"Oh shut up," she rolled her eyes at his flippant tone, "you're killing the mood, if you haven't already."

Naruto shook his head. "Don't want to."

"Don't want to what?" Hanabi demanded angrily. "You don't want to shut up or you don't want to sleep with me?"

"Both," he replied succinctly from below her.

She let out a cry of frustration and slammed her mouth onto his. Even though he was so damn frustrating, Naruto was still a guy in the end, so after a few minutes of forceful foreplay, he would be the one demanding to go further.

"Satisfied?" Naruto asked after a few minutes when she paused to take a breath. "I hardly felt anything from that."

"Then why don't you show me how it's done," she muttered, not at all pleased with his assessment of her kissing skills.

His statement had hurt. She rolled off of him to try and go to sleep again. It seemed like her wedding night was going to be a bust.

It made sense if she thought about it. He didn't love her. It was only a few months since he was in a relationship with a girl he loved more than his life itself. It wasn't too strange for him to be aloof with her. Hanabi had just been projecting her own growing feelings and assumed that he felt the same way. Naruto cared for her and was definitely affectionate, but he wasn't attracted or attached to her just yet.

He didn't have to love her to sleep with her. The love could come later. But Naruto wasn't even interested in being intimate with her.

Was she just not good enough for him?

It was probably the alcohol, the thought of that made her angry with him.

"I don't want you to get the wrong idea," Hanabi heard from her side. "Don't you think you're falling a little too hard and too fast? It's only been a month since we really started to get to know each other."

That took Hanabi by surprise. It already seemed like forever, but it was true that they only started to get to know each other.

"I…" she stammered. "I don't know…"

Only a month and she already was falling in love with him. Even just a year ago, she would have been horrified with her current lack of control over her own emotions.

Naruto sighed. "It's your first. I understand how…intense these feelings can be. Once you manage to convince yourself you like someone, the more you convince yourself that you actually do. It's a vicious cycle and you just end up loving an ideal that you create in your head. You're not quite there, but you're beginning to fall into that trap."

It wasn't mentioned, nor did it need to be, that Naruto was talking about Hinata's love for him and his own love for Haruno.

"I'm not telling you this because I don't want to fall in love with you or vice verse," he continued on. "I have every intention to try to love you. But it won't happen overnight. These things take time. Weeks, months, years even. You mentioned Sakura earlier. I was dating her just four months ago. I don't love her anymore and it wouldn't even matter if I did, since she's dead, but my heart is just not ready to accept someone else yet."

"Okay, I can understand that," she was surprised to find a single tear rolling down her cheek, "and I'm willing to give you time. But then what's wrong with me falling in love with you? Do you not want me? Were you just planning to keep me as an ornament that you keep around to say to others that you have a wife and don't have to marry anyone else?"

Hanabi felt herself be drawn into his arms around her. "Not at all. I chose you because of the strength of your convictions and your burning passion for life. I just want you to love the real Naruto Uzumaki. Right now, your mind is in a haze from our marriage. You may want to deny that you're just infatuated, but are you completely sure you're not just creating a person named Naruto in your head and falling in love that person? Do you think you know enough about me to actually love me?"

"Yes," she insisted. She could tell that Naruto was taken aback by the fierce look of conviction in her eyes. "You think you can hide yourself from the world, with your masks of laughter, brashness, idiocy, stubbornness, and even loyalty. But I'm not fooled by such illusions. I _will_ love you, Naruto Uzumaki, and you will _not_ stop me."

* * *

**Uzumaki Clan Compound, Master Bedroom, Konoha – March 27, AK 22**

"I _will_ love you, Naruto Uzumaki, and you will _not_ stop me."

Naruto sighed, slightly at a loss of what to do. He was flattered that Hanabi had fallen in love with him so quickly, but he needed to slow this down. Blind love was dangerous.

In the past, Sakura was willing to betray the village for Sasuke. Not once, but twice. Naruto himself was willing to forgive Sasuke just to keep Sakura happy and was willing to take all her abuse because he loved her. And Hinata recklessly tried to throw away her own life because she didn't want to see him die.

None of them loved properly. They were all in love with some ideal in their head that they each constructed. Naruto mentally groaned. All of them were seriously screwed up in the head. If anything, Sasuke, the only one who _didn't _love, was probably the only sane one in the group.

He mentally chuckled at that. Sasuke, sane? What a joke.

Naruto turned to Hanabi. He was open to loving her…eventually, but that wasn't for a long time. There were things he needed to do first before he could focus on healing his own heart and then seeking to fill it up with love.

"Even if I betray our friends, our village, and our world?" Naruto inquired, trying to shock the girl into submission. Still, he was curious to hear her answer. When he had asked her, Sakura had laughed and said that Naruto was too simple, too open, and too damn loving, and _could never_ pull it off before getting caught. Hinata would have said that Naruto was too compassionate and kind and _would never_ betray his home.

Neither of the two was right. In the Falls of Truth, Naruto had accepted his own darkness. People thought he had "purified" himself, but that wasn't true at all. Naruto had simply accepted that he too, like everyone else, had pain, anger, and hurt in his heart. He became one with all of that. That meant he was no longer pretending not to have those feelings of hatred.

The people of Konoha were selfish and narrow-minded and Naruto had considered crushing his own village thousands of times in the past just to rid the world of a nest of hypocrisy. The villagers may have believed that he forgave them for their mistreatment of him and he did, but Naruto Uzumaki never forgot and would never forget. He wouldn't start considering them family just for no reason. He wasn't a child clamoring for attention and acknowledgment anymore. Their respect meant nothing to him.

"Yes," Hanabi returned fiercely. "If you decide to burn this world down, I'll burn it down with you and then dance on the ashes."

"And what if I betray _you_?" Naruto asked ponderingly, quite surprised by her answer. It wasn't everyday you heard someone offering to become a traitor with you and for you.

The question gave his wife pause and Naruto could see her actually thinking about it. She began slowly and then grew firm, "To love means to trust. Unconditionally. If you betray me, I will hand my life to you with a smile. I will understand that there was a great need to do so and that you _didn't_ want to betray me even if you did. I know the intense feelings I have for you right now might just be infatuation, but in spite of that, underneath all of that, I love you. That love is what makes me perfectly willing to betray my family and my village for you. That love is what makes me perfectly willing to hand my life to you the moment you demand it."

Naruto felt something stirring in his heart at that. It had been a while since he felt something like that. He had thought that he could never love again after what happened with Sakura but his heart was opening up already.

Naruto slowly rolled Hanabi under him and smiled gently at her as he lowered his head for a light kiss.

"Well, if you feel that strongly about it, then who am I to stop you?" Naruto suddenly smirked as he looked deeply into her white eyes. "But your honey-coated words still aren't enough to make me want to sleep with you. Nice try though."

"Then get off of me!" she growled, clearly angry that Naruto had ruined the mood _again_.

Naruto laughed as his wife struggled furiously to get free. She tried twisting and turning as he kissed her. After a minute, he could feel her give up and gasp with pleasure from the deep kiss.

Naruto smiled and pulled back again to look at her.

"What now?" she demanded with a glare. "You tease me by denying me, get me worked up, _then_ turn me on again, only to stop? What's the big idea? Do you get off on teasing me or something?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. If her words were anything to go by, the girl was clearly uninhibited by the large quantity of alcohol she drank.

He decided to teach her a "lesson" for being so irresponsible.

"Beg," Naruto ordered.

Her eyes widened at his command.

When they turned hard in refusal, Naruto pressed down into the bed again and used a subtle genjutsu to make her feel more relaxed than usual. Some people might have considered that morally questionable, but Hanabi had been the one raving for them to sleep together at the beginning. Naruto heard her gasp as their bodies rubbed against each other over their robes. Hanabi shuddered with pleasure.

Then, once again, he stopped and gave her a meaningful look to tease her. He was going to make her as frustrated as possible.

Sure enough, she squirmed in refusal.

Naruto lowered his mouth next to her ear.

"Beg for me, my little firecracker," Naruto blew lightly in her ear before kissing along her neck and gently running his hand over her robes.

"P…pl…please," she moaned after a few minutes.

Naruto's jaw dropped in shock. He hadn't expected her to cave—she was just that prideful—so Naruto was floored that she had just pleaded with him.

Hanabi must have taken his shock as a sign of refusal because she swallowed lightly and looked up at him with large eyes.

"Please, my lord. Make me yours," she begged.

Naruto's wide eyes softened as he looked at the girl who had fallen in love with him so much for her to throw away even her pride just to be with him.

"You didn't have to do that, you know," he whispered as he stroked her hair lightly. Naruto began to remove her clothes, kissing her gently as he did so.

"I don't mind," she panted out. Naruto could feel her removing his clothes. "I'm done trying to be strong and tough in front of you. I don't even care that you don't love me yet. We can develop our relationship slowly later. But right now, I just want to be yours."

With that, the night had begun.

* * *

**Forests, Land of Rice Fields – March 28, AK 22**

Ranmaru was sitting on a rock at his usual meeting place. Lately, his master was showing up late to the scheduled times. He hoped that nothing was going on with his teacher.

Ranmaru jumped as he felt a presence behind him.

He moved on instinct and took out his staff. "Lightning Release: Raikiri Current!"

Electricity covered him, ready to paralyze anything got near him.

All of a sudden, Ranmaru found his electricity shroud being drawn into the ground, traveling along what appeared to be solid chakra threads. Ranmaru's eyes widened when he activated them and saw that a masked girl had covered the entire area with earth-natured chakra.

"Game over," she deadpanned. "In less than ten seconds."

Instead of his sensei, it was a ginger-haired girl wearing a white and red kimono and a golden hat that looked somewhat like a fan.

Ranmaru disagreed her statement. He was still in contact with his staff and as long as he had that, he could still fight. The staff produced its own chakra and all he needed to do was to manipulate the chakra. The first things that needed to go were these annoying threads that were draining him of chakra. The best for slicing everything up was wind.

"Wind Release—" he began to release wind chakra from his staff.

"Fire Release: Flame Wheel!"

A ring of fire flew from her raised hands and rose up a few meters above them. Ranmaru felt all the wind-natured chakra he was releasing get drained into the fire technique the girl had just unleashed.

His eyes widened when he realized just whose technique that was.

"I hate you so much." Ranmaru whined once he recognized the person attacking him.

She ignored him. "I figured that since it was such a long time since we had seen each other, we should have a spar before we get down to business, but I never thought it'd be over this quickly."

It was his unofficial superior, his teacher's close friend. He met with her at least once a month, but more contact was impossible because of their respective situations. She was constantly on the run from the authorities while he was a spy in Oto.

"Oh shut up," he muttered, not in a good mood at being taken out in a matter of seconds. He'd get back at her someday. Her _AND_ his sensei.

"A combination of an earth release technique and my chakra strings for the initial trap. Lightning can pierce the earth but can also be grounded by earth. Then you tried a wind technique that ended up useless against my fire wheel. I think you should be a bit more worried if you can be taken off guard like that. I had the ground saturated with my chakra ten seconds after I got here. I had those wires set up five seconds after that. That was pathetic, Ranmaru."

Ranmaru groaned. He wasn't in the mood for another lecture and the inevitable punishment.

He struggled against his bonds. But Ranmaru couldn't move because of the chakra strings binding him to the area. He took a careful look at the strange strings again. They were still absorbing his chakra even after the battle had been finished.

No wonder he felt so weak. His sempai was just cruel like that.

"Mercy!" Ranmaru gasped out hopefully , even as he knew that there would be none. The next moment, Ranmaru found himself soaring through the air, stomach screaming from the blow he had taken. "You witch," he gritted his teeth as he landed painfully on the ground.

Ranmaru saw the next attack coming but could do nothing more than wince as he got knocked to the ground. He found himself locked in a pyramidal cage made of pure chakra. "A witch, am I?" the girl said sweetly as she tightened her fist. Ranmaru grunted as he fought against the chakra walls closing in on him, "Furthermore, it also didn't help you that I had already predicted the first move you'd try to use after you realized I was here and then the next move you'd try once you realized you fell into a trap. I didn't even have to rely on my ability as a sensor. You never miss an opportunity to use that stupid Raikiri technique."

It was true. Ranmaru loved the Raikiri Current because it was _so damn awesome_ to be covered in a shroud of shrieking lightning. It might have been immature of him to want to look as badass as possible but the technique was normally effective.

The key word was "normally." Neither his sensei nor his sempai was a normal enemy.

Suddenly, the chakra walls disappeared and Ranmaru grumbled as he got up. He slowly felt the energy that the girl had drained return to his body when the strings latched onto him again. "Why the hell do you and Sensei only hit me?! Go hit Yuna for a change. God knows she needs to be spanked; she's a little demon! So stop favoring her just because she's a little girl!"

"Tch," the girl replied, before transforming into the blond Yuna and imitating her pouting face.

"Tell me, Ranmaru," he heard the girl say in Yuna's bright and cheery voice, "can you hit a face such as this? Hm? Can you? You can't, can you? Ha! Yuna wins! Another point for Princess Yuna! Yuna one hundred, Ranmaru zero!"

Ranmaru twitched in annoyance as the oranged-haired girl reappeared. She did have a point. Yuna was just too cute for her own good.

"Alright," he admitted, "but don't come crying to me when all your coddling ends up hurting Yuna on the battlefield. She still hasn't been in a true fight yet and not being able to deal with the pain from injuries might end up handicapping her."

"We'll worry about that when we get there. She's only ten years old. Master doesn't plan on making her fight any time soon."

"Master?" he raised an eyebrow. Even though his sensei had taught all of them, he had never required any of them to call him Master.

"Yes, Master," she nodded as she took her mask off. "He's finally taking his heritage and position seriously."

Ranmaru wasn't listening. He was too taken aback by how dazzling the older girl looked. He shook his head to get the small blush off his face. He'd die before he gave the girl the satisfaction of knowing that he thought she was absolutely beautiful. "And what's with the headpiece?" Ranmaru teased to disguise his shock, "Pretending to be a princess?"

The pretty girl shook her head. "If only," she laughed bitterly before brightening. "I suppose you can say that I'm an _angel_, however, since I'm playing messenger to a god."

Ranmaru rolled his eyes. "Sensei's not a god; he's just a stuck up asshole," he said with a sullen tone. "A very cruel bastard of a teacher."

"Show a bit more respect, Ranmaru," she scolded lightly. "And please," she said in an exasperated tone, "his training is not _that_ bad."

"Right," Ranmaru deadpanned, "because throwing blades of wind at me to get me to dodge faster isn't dangerous by any means. And the amount of chakra he gets me to summon is painful."

The girl shrugged uncaringly. "It's only because he felt you were ready for it."

Ranmaru rolled his eyes. He knew that she had a crush on his sensei, but her devotion was bordering on obsession. She would defend him with her dying breath.

"So, what's up?" Ranmaru asked, changing the topic. He wasn't going to get into an argument with her about their opinions on his sensei. She would inevitably get angry and beat the crap out of him. And Ranmaru didn't want to go home completely bruised today. "Messenger, huh? Why is it you and not Sensei meeting me here today?"

The orange-haired girl's face suddenly hardened as she turned around and summoned a cage of solid chakra to surround them to protect them from the projectiles that flew their way.

Ranmaru immediately moved into a defensive position and stood back-to-back with the older girl. "Oto ninjas?! How did they find us here?" he hissed as twelve men appeared around them.

This was not good. He had been extremely cautious in dealing with Kabuto. How did Kabuto figure out that he was a spy?

Ranmaru activated his eyes. He didn't recognize any of them; Ranmaru was more familiar with the research division of Kabuto's forces. Given their chakra levels, they were all jounin. None of them were quite as strong as his sempai and Ranmaru felt that even he might be able to handle any of them individually, but twelve on two were not good odds. It would be close.

"Surrender, you are surrounded. We have searched for you for quite some time," the leader intoned in a dull voice. Ranmaru looked at him with confusion when the man focused on the girl behind him. Weren't they after him? "We finally found you, Sasame Fuuma."

* * *

AN: The last line of this chapter should have answered A LOT of questions if you've been following this story carefully. I'm not going to list it out for you. If you still don't get it, then just wait until the next chapter. Haha.

Sorry. No lemons. Despite the poll results, I went with no lemons. What I wrote was already far more than I had intended to when I started the chapter. Several people pointed out that I'll be banned if even one person reports me. Unfortunately, there's been one person flaming me for no reason. Blocked him from reviewing and PMing me, but I wouldn't be surprised if he reported me if I posted up a lemon.

I might start a separate "story" that is comprised of purely lemons from this story, however, if time permits it.

Also, unfortunately, the early summer's going to be a busier time for me. I'm going to be doing a neurology rotation (ugh medical school) which involves working from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. 6 days a week. I do have rough drafts up to Chapter 25 written out so I'll try to update once in a while. And no, I won't just post up the rough drafts. I make plenty of mistakes as is. There would be huge plot holes and stuff if I just posted up random scenes I thought of when I'm bored out of my ass in the ED.


	14. Search - Secrets of Spiritual Energy

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. This is fanfiction, after all.

* * *

**Forests, Land of Rice Fields – March 28, AK 22**

Sasame carefully observed her twelve opponents and mentally cursed. Kabuto had taken care to send more than she could handle. In general, an average chuunin could handle two squads of average genin. An average jounin could handle two squads of average chuunin. An average elite could handle two squads of average jounin.

She knew she was a bit stronger than the average elite but judging from the foul sensation of the chakra of the twelve enemies in front of her, they were using the first level of Kabuto's Cursed Seals. That brought them up to near jounin levels and three full squads of jounin were probably more than she could handle. That still wasn't counting the fact that they could power up once more by entering the second level of their seals.

She was suddenly aware of Ranmaru behind her.

She and Naruto had drilled him to the point that he had a puncher's chance of taking out a couple jounin on his own. It was one of the reasons why his training had been incredibly harsh.

With his help, there was a chance that they might get out unharmed, but despite his technical skill, Ranmaru was still relatively inexperienced in actual battle. Asking him to take part in a large battle of the enemy with her was probably unrealistic at this point. She would have to send him off with one or two of the jounin. If they got lucky, they would be able to fight a delaying action for a couple of hours, which was when Naruto was supposed to come pick them up before he left for his honeymoon.

"What business do you have with me?" Sasame said in a calm voice, giving away none of the nervousness she was feeling. "If you're here for the bounty placed on me, I have to inform you that I have recently been bought and claimed. You're wasting your time if you're here to take me to the nearest slaver. I have the papers to prove it."

Given that they were from Oto, it was unlikely that they were simply after money. Most likely, they were after her because of her mastery in solid chakra manipulation. Her skill in it surpassed even her cousin Arashi's, which was one of the reasons why ninja villages had been hesitant in taking up retrieval requests from the slave company that had initially bought her.

Kabuto was probably interested in researching it. Actual money probably meant very little to the bastard.

It was still worth a shot, however.

"Irrelevant," the leader responded as he held up a sword.

Sasame shifted into a defensive stance once she realized that talking wasn't going to get her out of the situation.

"Take the two directly in front of you," she muttered to the boy behind her. "I'll take the other ten."

"_Ten_?" Ranmaru hissed back, "You can't handle ten on your own at once. I'll try to distract at least four or five. I won't be able to win in that kind of battle, but I can buy you a lot of time." Ranmaru growled. "I still can't believe Kabuto sent out three squads of ninjas with the Cursed Seals just to go after you."

"It's pointless to mull over that right now," Sasame shook her head lightly. "He's probably after one of my clan techniques. And it's better that you finish your opponents off quickly as possible instead of trying to stall; endurance is not your forte, especially since they're using the Cursed Seals. Take two for now and start picking off the rest of them one-by-one once you get back after you're finished. That's the best strategy here. With my techniques, I have a much better chance at fighting a delaying action. Master was supposed to meet us here in two hours. It's not realistic, but we'll need to try to last that long."

They instantly leapt into action.

She ducked under a sword swing before summoning solid chakra strings. She twisted to avoid a punch, then wrapped the strings around one of her enemies, and slung him into two others.

Her danger senses went off and she locked herself in a cage of chakra. She winced as she felt the vibrations from the technique. She turned to see one of her enemies holding up a trumpet.

_It's a sound technique!_

Sasame quickly ripped off a bit of the fabric from her kimono and placed it in her ears. Using the fabric as a medium—to conserve chakra, since it was easier to channel chakra through objects than through the air—she saturated the fabric with chakra to create fabric-chakra hybrid earplugs that would block all sounds.

It was still a waste of chakra, so the trumpet-wielding one would have to die first.

She dispelled the chakra cage around her with a wave of her hand and then flew threw hand signs.

"Fire Release—crap!"

Sasame had to roll out of the way a lightning technique landed where she had been standing just a second before.

She could most likely defeat ten of them _in a row_, but fighting ten at once—dealing with attacks from ten different directions—was a different story altogether, especially with the inability to hear. She was having some trouble picking up where her enemies were. She was a sensor, but sensing took concentration, something she couldn't afford doing when she had to dedicate mental real estate on attacking. She had to hand it to Kabuto; he chose his men well. If it hadn't been for Ranmaru drawing away two of the enemies away, she would have been done for already. She still hadn't been able to kill a single one.

The one advantage she had over her enemies, however, was that she was free to use area of effect ninjutsu since she had many more targets. Unless they wanted to hurt their own comrades, they were limited to mostly precision techniques. It was likely that they didn't care for the lives of their teammates, but they clearly knew that with every person who went down, Sasame's chances of coming out with a victory went up.

She felt a wave of chakra soaring towards her. It was probably sound in the air. She jumped behind a tree and saw the bark explode from the sound vibrations.

This wouldn't do at all.

Sasame needed to have more cover so she could pick them off one-by-one. There were plenty of trees around them, but she needed to take away even more space.

She started to prepare ninjutsu while moving, something relatively difficult to do. The human mind was horrible at multitasking; it was incredibly difficult to focus on locating enemies, dodging attacks, and casting ninjutsu all at the same time. But it was a skill that Naruto had taught to help her survive.

Sasame smiled. Even hundreds of miles away, Naruto was still protecting her.

"Earth Release: Gaia Pillars!"

All around them, large columns of mud and rock rose around them, destroying the nearby trees and separating all of them. Since Sasame was a sensor and knew where each one of them was, she was at an advantage. Unknown to her enemies was the fact that she had coated the pillars with her special solid chakra. The mud was only to serve as a distraction. The real threat was her solid chakra.

She flared her chakra.

She sighed with some relief as she heard a couple chakra signatures disappear. More would have been better, of course, but she would take everything she could get right now. What made it even better was that one of the now dead was the annoying one throwing those sound attacks at her.

Sasame had manipulated the chakra on the pillars to become transparent spears that attacked each of her enemies while they were trying to orient themselves and figure out how to navigate between the large pillars. Most of them had been caught off guard and hadn't expected the attack.

_Eight more to go_, she mentally counted before she felt eight identical surges of chakra. _And my battle just got harder even with two of the enemies down._

Leaving her makeshift earplugs in as insurance in case any one else was able to use those annoying sound attacks, she dispelled the chakra coating the earth posts. The same trick wouldn't work twice.

She snuck in between the pillars heading towards the nearest enemy.

"Fire Release: Rings of Wrath," she whispered. Three small circlets appeared in her hand.

Her enemy noticed her and jumped back, avoiding all three of the expanding fire rings she threw at him. Fortunately for Sasame, and unfortunately for him, Sasame had already accounted for that and had created a sharp spear of solid chakra behind the man.

_Seven more to go._ She steeled herself.

Her eyes widened when the man roared with pain.

"That hurt, you bitch!" The man grabbed the chakra constructed and pulled it out before tossing it on the ground where it disappeared.

It was impossible; no person could survive having his or her hearts punctured. Did the transformations displace vital organs inside the body?

"Tch. Fire Release: Rings of Wrath!" This time, she threw ten fire rings.

"Too easy," the man taunted as he wove in and out of the net of rings. Sasame ignored him as she continued to manipulate the fire rings flying around him. He ducked under one and then jumped up _through_ another one. "Aren't you supposed to be el—"

Unfortunately, the ring he was currently jumping threw closed in rapidly. Sasame shifted her hands to increase the power.

A huge pillar of fire went up into the air.

"_Now_ seven more to go," she panted, as another enemy landed after seeing what might has well have been a beacon giving off her position.

Still, the earth pillars around them were huge and with threat of transparent spikes popping out—which the enemies didn't know was no longer there—they would be careful and slow. While they moved around cautiously, she would pick them off one-by-one.

Sasame's eyes widened when she saw several of the pillars hiding her from view crumbled. _Impossible! They can't just crumble like that! Even lighting techniques would make them explode!_

"What the—?" she whispered to no one.

"Surrender, none of your techniques will work on us now," the leader claimed in an arrogant and confident tone as he walked _through_ a pillar near her.

Her eyes narrowed when she saw glowing yin-yang shaped seals on her transformed enemies' clothes. "I see. No wonder your chakra signatures disappeared and my techniques suddenly collapsed like that. Dispersion Seals," she groaned. "Just my luck. Dispersion Seals _and_ Cursed Seals." Her solid chakra techniques wouldn't work anymore. She looked at the leader.

She quickly summoned the weapon she mastered just for a situation like this. It wasn't her preferred way of fighting—it felt strange to fight without chakra—but beggars couldn't be choosers.

_Poof!_

Sasame grimly took the metal longbow in her hands. She quickly took out an arrow and fired it straight into the unsuspecting leader's eye, killing him before he could react.

"Idiot, never keep your guard down," she lectured before body flickering away to dodge the incoming blows from his subordinates.

"Six more," she gasped out as she threw up a chakra wall to protect her from an explosive tag. She had already spent more than half her chakra.

Where was Ranmaru?

_With the predictive ability of his eyes, he should have been able to handle those two by now. They were easily the weakest in the group._

She almost panicked as one of men jumped _through_ the explosion and through her wall—it immediately dissolved as he touched it—and grabbed her bow. She managed to stab the man in the throat with an arrow, but she had to release her bow, as the now five remaining enemies charged at her.

She jumped away into the tree to put some more distance between her and her enemies and fell on one knee. It was exhausting constantly trying to dodge attacks from multiple fronts. The power boost from the Cursed Seals had been expected but Sasame hadn't accounted for them having Dispersion Seals. She frowned as she pondered on her next move. Sasame never favored using weapons to begin with and she wasn't a good enough taijutsu user to continually dodge attacks from five different directions indefinitely. It was already somewhat of miracle that she managed to kill five this quickly when all ten were initially attacking her at the same time.

She allowed herself a small smile. Never underestimate how much of an advantage being underestimated was.

The expression on her face quickly turned hard. But now with the Dispersion Seals in place, any advantage she might have had was gone. Since her enemies would no longer be expelling chakra, she would no longer be able to sense them. Any contact she made with them would lead to a large portion her chakra being dissipated. Any ninjutsu or genjutsu she launched would be ineffective.

Sasame looked at the small scrapes all over her body and grimaced.

She would have to begin taking calculated risks.

Closing her eyes and concentrating, she created a solid longbow using solely her chakra. It would be a strain on her reserves to keep up such a dense chakra construct for a long time, but there really was no other way she could fight a Dispersion Seal user. And it wasn't like she was going to be using her chakra for anything else either.

* * *

**Forests, Land of Rice Fields – March 28, AK 22**

Ranmaru blocked the swipe from his enemy's metal claw with his Star Staff.

He had attacked two ninjas immediately after the battle had begun and led them at far away. Each time they tried to turn back, he would launch various elemental attacks.

Eventually, they had decided to take care of him first before taking care of the main objective.

The Oto ninjas must have recognized him because they kept their distance. They clearly knew about his eyes. Ranmaru wasn't the best at taijutsu because of his relatively weak body, but he had incredibly good predictive powers and was able to end close-ranged fights almost before they even started.

After five minutes of flinging long-range ninjutsu, the idiot in front of him had gotten impatient and went in for the kill.

Ranmaru twisted his staff free and thrust it forward.

"Raikiri!"

The enemy managed to dodge and suffer only a graze before jumping back.

"Fire Release: Large Fireball!"

Ranmaru quickly pulled his staff free and swerved it towards the direction the attack was coming from. "Water Release: Aqua Wave!"

Large amounts of steam rose up in the air as the two attacks collided. He made a note to thank Naruto-sensei; without the Star Staff and its ability to launch attacks of all elements, he would have been dead long ago.

Ranmaru launched another Aqua Wave at the man standing in the tree.

Unfortunately, his enemy chose that time to activate the Dispersion Seal and waved off the attack. Ranmaru could tell that his enemy was unhappy with the situation.

_The seals must have been a last resort situation to bring down Sasame-sempai. With the time limits on those seals, he's just wasting an invaluable weapon on what is small fry, _Ranmaru theorized.

Ranmaru's eyes widened. That meant that the other _ten_ were using Dispersion Seals as well.

Sasame-sempai was an above-average A-rank, but there was no way she could take on ten Cursed Sealed enemies using Dispersion Seals. The Cursed Seal already brought an average ninja up to near jounin levels. The Dispersion Seals brought up someone's "ranking" roughly one entire level. If these Oto ninjas were stacking Cursed Seals and Dispersion Seals, Sasame-sempai might as well be facing ten A-ranks.

Of course, there were ways to fight indirectly and take away the benefits gained from both seals, such as fighting from distance or through traps, but Sasame-sempai was more of a close to mid-range ninjutsu user. Worse, she wouldn't even be able to use her sensory skills to determine where her attackers were once they started using Dispersions Seals.

Ranmaru had to get back to her as soon as possible. He had to be her eyes; only his eye techniques were able to sense and detect people using Dispersion Seals.

_Boom!_

He saw two dozen earth pillars go up into the air in the distance. Good. The enemies were probably not using Dispersion Seals just yet if she was throwing around chakra intensive techniques like that.

He had to finish off his battles here as soon as possible.

Ranmaru noted that the ninja he had grazed with the Raikiri was now next to his partner in the tree. He rushed towards them, casting illusions all around them. Interestingly enough, as with his eye techniques, his illusions and genjutsu techniques were among the few chakra-based technique _not_ affected by the Dispersion Seals. He had asked Naruto-sensei multiple times but never got a clear answer.

All Naruto-sensei had said was that he was a natural counter-type to anti-chakra practitioners. Unfortunately for his two enemies now using Dispersion Seals on top of the Cursed Seal level two, by throwing away their ability to use ninjutsu, they had thrown away their last advantage against him.

He replaced himself with a log near his one of his enemies as the two started punching and kicking at all the illusions. Ranmaru could tell that they were getting unnerved. His illusions weren't solid, but a small subtle genjutsu fooling their senses was enough to make them think that they were all solid clones. Ranmaru smirked as they tried to dispel his illusions as if they were D-rank genjutsu.

Ranmaru manipulated his illusions so that they would all appear to be throwing kunai. He himself body flickered directly in front of the first of his enemies and slammed a kunai into his head before jumping back from the projectiles his victim's partner threw. Ranmaru quickly replaced himself with another log to hide his tracks and had his illusions swarm the remaining ninja.

The man lost his balance trying to dodge all the illusory attacks and fell off the tree. Ranmaru quickly took the opportunity to jump and slam his Star Staff into him and knock the man out.

Without even wasting a moment, he swiped his lightning coated rod across the man's neck and decapitated him before heading back towards his sempai.

Hopefully, she would still be fighting by the time he got there.

* * *

**Forests, Land of Rice Fields – March 28, AK 22**

Sasame clutched at her injured shoulder as she faced the last three. She had managed to sneak up on them multiple times and had taken two of them out with her makeshift bow, but they had quickly caught onto her plan after the first one went down.

Three of them had waited for her to attack the next one and used that opportunity to swarm her.

She managed to kill the one she intended to before escaping, but suffered a grave injury to her arm, preventing her from using her weapon. Furthermore, they had managed to grab her several times and dispersed a great deal of the chakra in her body.

She breathed hard as she held up a kunai with her good hand and got ready to attack. They were stronger and faster, but she was still more agile and skilled. At the very least, she could fight a delaying action until Ranmaru got back.

Sasame breathed a sigh of relief as illusions sprung up around them.

_About time, Ranmaru_, she thought as the men started dodge illusory projectiles.

"You okay, Sempai?" Ranmaru said as he landed in front of her.

"Idiot!" she hissed. "They know that those are illusions attacking them. If see you here, they'll know that you're the real one."

Ranmaru smirked. "But I'm _not_ the real one, Sempai. Look!"

Sasame gasped as one of the ninjas had his skull crushed by the earth-reinforced Star Staff as he charged towards what he thought was the "real" Ranmaru, ignoring all the illusory blows he was receiving. Unfortunately for him, one of the Ranmaru projections attacking him had been the real one.

She looked at her junior with awed eyes. Even she wasn't able to tell that the Ranmaru in front of her was an illusion. It was giving off a perfect chakra signal as well.

Ranmaru really had grown a lot. He was still a child at times, but no one could say that he was incompetent.

Her eyes narrowed when she saw the enemies' confusion about how a chakra technique was affecting them. "I still don't understand how your techniques are the only things that affect them."

"That's something I believe I can answer."

The illusions all disappeared instantly, leaving a shocked Ranmaru and Sasame along with two wary Oto ninjas.

"Lord Naruto," Sasame breathed out in relief, as she finally fainted from the exhaustion and blood loss.

* * *

**Forests, Land of Rice Fields – March 28, AK 22**

Naruto quickly formed a shadow clone to attend to Sasame as he walked towards the Oto ninjas. He smirked when he saw their wide eyes.

They knew they were royally screwed.

When Naruto got within about five meters of them with Kyuubi Mode now activated, they immediately turned and started running.

Naruto turned to Ranmaru, "Which one was the one who hurt Sasame?"

Ranmaru was still gaping. "I…I'm not sure, Naruto-sensei. I only just got here myself after taking two of them on somewhere else."

Naruto shook his head. "Foolish apprentice. You're gifted with such amazing eyes and you let Sasame take care of…let's see," Naruto looked around and counted the number of bodies before adding them to the two who had run away, "_ten_ by herself?"

"Ah…" Naruto mentally laughed as Ranmaru backed up in fear of punishment, "I'm sorry! I won't let it happen again!"

Despite his words, Naruto was proud that his student had managed to take care of two on his own and had made it back in time without_ any _injuries to finish off one more. He couldn't let Ranmaru get a big head though.

Naruto gave him a stern look before cracking up at the cowed look on his disciple's face. "Oh, stop being such a baby. I'm not going to hurt you."

The teen looked relieved at that before pointing in the direction of the two men running away. "Um…Naruto-sensei, what about them?"

Naruto shrugged. "Leave them." As far as Naruto was concerned, they were already dead. He turned to look at his clone still healing his new servant.

"Huh?" came the response.

He sighed before turning back to his student. "Okay. Fine. Watch. I give it about three seconds."

Three.

Two.

One.

_BOOM!_

"Wow…" Ranmaru gasped with his eyes activated. "What the heck happened? I saw purple and blue chakra mixing and then disappearing into an unstable mix of black and white."

"Safety precautions," Naruto explained. "You yourself reported that he was having the ninjas with Cursed Seals use the Dispersion Seals. As you can see," Naruto gestured to the smoke coming from a little beyond the trees, "The Dispersion Seals therefore had a fail-safe in case that happened."

"You could have made them blow up faster," Ranmaru pointed out.

Naruto frowned and nodded. "I did. They're set to blow up immediately. Kabuto must have been keeping information from you even though you're a part of his research department. He somehow managed to extend the time before the fail-safe goes off."

His student groaned. "I told you that you should have killed him. Now he's going to get more annoying."

"We'll worry about that later," Naruto waved off as he turned around.

They both walked to Sasame who was now awake and fully healed.

"What's with the look of shock, Sasame? You know I can shadow step to any place I marked. And this place," Naruto gestured at the now devastated area, "is one of our rendezvous points."

Sasame looked at him as if he were crazy. "But, you're supposed to be with Hanabi today! It's the morning after your wedding. You should technically be in bed with her right now! She's going to notice that you're—"

"Shadow clones," he said casually.

"But what about—"

"I sent a clone to my wedding. And during the wedding," Naruto interrupted, already knowing what she was going to ask, "Sai and I checked to see if the chakra barrier around Konoha can detect me teleporting when I shadow step in and out of the village while everyone was preoccupied with my wedding," Naruto explained. "We long theorized that it couldn't, especially after Sai used it to teleport to my compound in an emergency back in January. But we now have confirmation. I can move in and out of the village freely now and don't have to wait until I'm out on a mission to carry out my 'personal' tasks."

"Why didn't you send a clone to check with Sai? It would have been safer," his orange-haired friend inquired with a curious look on her face. "It wouldn't have been good if people found out you sent a clone to your wedding."

"The shadow step requires using spiritual energy and physical energy. Clones aren't able to use either."

Both of his associates looked confused. "Spiritual energy? Physical energy?"

"I'll explain later. It's one of the reasons why I came here actually."

"Oh and that reminds me," Ranmaru replied, "Why aren't you in disguise?! If one of those Oto ninjas got away, your identity could have been compromised!"

"I had no time to get changed," Naruto's eyes turned hard. "An unexpected event happened this morning, one that requires us to change our plans immediately."

"It's Sakura, isn't it?" Sasame asked worriedly.

Naruto grimaced and nodded. "She managed to weaken the seal far earlier than I anticipated."

"It's surprising for a girl who was incredibly insecure to have such mental strength. The seal you placed on her was a level-7 seal; it should have been more than enough to keep her comatose for at least a year," Sasame commented with a frown. "So what are we going to do?"

Naruto turned the sealing practitioner, who, not surprisingly, threw herself into fuinjutsu to try and come up with a way to remove the seal and restore the skin on her arm. Naruto had been teaching her whenever he had the time, but she wasn't all that skilled just yet. Still, in spite of her lack of experience, Sasame had come up with a way to dampen the chakra-emitting seal that alerted slavers. It didn't remove it completely, but it would allow her move around more freely. Naruto had often offered to remove the seal for her, but the girl had adamantly refused.

She claimed that it was out of pride, but Naruto knew that it was because she didn't want him to see the disfiguring slave mark on her arm.

"The seal is still intact," Naruto clarified. "She managed to _crack_ it rather than break it completely. One of my clones felt the change yesterday while in Sage Mode while acting as a lookout for me and Sai."

"So she's conscious, but her memory's not intact?" Ranmaru asked.

"No, the seal doesn't work that way. She's not awake but she's improved from a coma-like state to a dreamlike state. It's only a matter of time before she gets all her memories back and wakes up. Once that happens, I'm going to have to bail. Ugh. How annoying. Just when I had plans on consolidating my power base in Konoha, this happens. And it happened at the most inopportune time as well. If this happened even a few weeks earlier, I would have just bailed and wouldn't have had to get married."

"Why not just bail now? Or last night?" Ranmaru asked. "Fell in love with your wife that quickly?" he teased.

Naruto rolled his eyes and launched a gust of wind at the silly boy, knocking him into a tree. "As if. I gave my word to be a loyal husband and I intend to keep it. If there's betrayal, it'll be from _her_ end." Naruto paused. "And the construction in Wave Country hasn't been completed yet. They still need about six more months to complete the initial stages and about two years after that to finish everything else. We need to last in Konoha for at least six months."

"Shall I kill her?" Sasame offered. "As far as Konoha is concerned, I'm only a servant. It would be easy to move around within the village. You and Sakura are the only ones who know that I'm a ninja anyway."

Naruto thought about that for a minute. He wouldn't have any qualms with killing the girl he once loved—he's killed a fair amount of people over the years under Konoha's banner—but until he sorted out his feelings completely, he didn't want to kill the girl. Right now, he would be killing her in anger over her betrayal. That wasn't justice; it was revenge.

"No," Naruto finally replied. "That's not necessary. The risks of getting caught are greater than the risk of Sakura waking up. Just leave her be. If she wakes up, we'll just leave for Nami earlier than planned."

"The Hidden Village of Wave, hm?"

"Yup," Naruto nodded. "Our future home."

"Then what brings you here?" Sasame inquired. "I'm glad to see you much earlier than expected since you coming here early probably saved my life, but it's not like you had to tell us that Sakura woke up or that we're moving to Nami eventually. If you're staying in Konoha for now, I doubt that it changes our short-term plans. "

Naruto shook his head. "No, it does. Now that Sakura has shown signs of mental activity, they're going to do everything they can to read her memories with a mind-reader while keeping her 'revival' a secret from me and from the village. There are traps set inside of her mind, but I still need to buy all the time I can get. That's where you come in, Ranmaru."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. Sasame was initially supposed to tell you to fake your death and leave Oto immediately. You were supposed to come with me on my honeymoon as one of my servants." Naruto smirked at the indignant look the boy got on his face. "But things have changed now. I need you to keep Konoha's attention away from Sakura while I'm gone."

"So…"

Naruto didn't answer the question and turned to the girl. "It works out that Kabuto sent those men after you, Sasame."

"How so?" the girl asked with a raised eyebrow. He smirked as he immediately entered into Kyuubi Mode, motioned through hand signs, and molded a huge amount of chakra. "Naruto! What the heck are you—?"

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flame Burst!"

Naruto flared his chakra all around him and ignited it. A phoenix of fire briefly rose from the ground before expanding into a pillar of a fire hundred meters wide.

The red flames roasted everything around them except for the three of them and the ground underneath them. The flames and smoke eventually cleared to reveal a ridiculous amount of ashes around them. Only the ground under them was still brown.

"What was that for?" Ranmaru asked with large eyes, as he surveyed the destruction. "You even burned the rocks into ashes!"

"I'm going to write Kabuto a little note telling him that I don't appreciate him attacking a very valuable spy _I_ managed to plant inside of _Naruto's_ own home," Naruto gestured to Sasame, "As far as Kabuto is concerned, Kokuten killed his men, not you two. Ranmaru, you also 'died' in today in this fire blast."

"Okay…" said the confused boy. "So this is my ticket out of Oto?"

Naruto nodded. "Ranmaru, you can briefly return to cast one of your special genjutsu techniques on those you worked with in Oto. Make them think that those twelve men carried you out with them to use your eyes to improve their chances of capturing Sasame. You work in the research department so none of them would have had the courage to stop the twelve jounin from taking you by force."

"I can do that, but what is it that you want me to do? You still haven't answered my question," the boy asked stubbornly.

"That means I want you to masquerade as Kokuten while I'm away on my honeymoon to scare the crap out of Konoha and the other villages," Naruto answered rather bluntly, indulging the boy.

"What?!" Naruto saw the panicked look in his student's eyes. "I'm glad I'm finally leaving Oto, but how am I going to pretend to be _you_, Naruto-sensei? I'm nowhere near as strong as you are; hell, I'm not even as strong as Sasame-sempai and I doubt she could pull something like this," Ranmaru pointed all around them, "off. If I get caught, it's all over. I won't be able to bulldoze my way through enemies like you can."

"He's right," Sasame agreed while also looking shocked at the sea of ashes. "We _barely_ were scraping by against twelve B-class jounin. Ranmaru is strong, but this is too much for him, Lord Naruto."

"Stop calling me that, Sasame," Naruto said in an exasperated tone. Even after he repeatedly told her to treat him casually, the girl insisted on acting as if she were a real servant.

"That's not the point here, _Naruto_," she said, appeasing him for a moment. "You can get Ranmaru killed!"

Naruto shook his head, indicating that he disagreed, and turned to Ranmaru. "You're to meet up with Yuna in Wave Country and manage the situation there. Sai and I could only do so much when we were tied down with village responsibilities. Whenever you're free, however, I want you to act as a distraction."

"Naruto!"

"I refuse!"

"I'm not sending you off to your death, Ranmaru," Naruto said with a sigh. "I'm not crazy, you know. You might think that I'm hard on you, but I'm really just giving you tasks that are well within your abilities to carry out."

"I'm listening." Naruto laughed at the curious but suspicious look.

"I'm going to teach you a few things that will boost your power significantly."

"Not going to fall for that one," Ranmaru rolled his eyes. "Unless you have something to that will allow me to take on S-ranks by tomorrow, you can forget it. And don't try to sell this to me as a training exercise."

Naruto just stared at the boy. It wasn't like he didn't understand the boy. From his perspective, this task was incredibly dangerous. There was a large likelihood that Konoha would send out squads of jounins or even elite jounin to try and capture, or worse, kill, him. It would be like a game of poke-the-bear; that was suicide for even an elite jounin like Sasame. Only an S-rank could indefinitely survive.

Ranmaru, as he was, wouldn't last a week.

Naruto smirked. But Ranmaru was going to get a huge ability boost in a few minutes.

"I do."

"What?!" Ranmaru's jaws dropped open. "Is it training?" Naruto mentally groaned as Ranmaru paled. Somehow Naruto had unintentionally scarred the boy for life with what was supposed to be intense but good training. His student seemed to have developed a phobia for training with him now. "You're not going to tell me that you found some kind of special seal that would allow you to train an entire year in a day's worth of time, right?" The boy started backing up. "The regular training was already torturous enough; I don't want to die!"

"Stop being such a coward and listen," Naruto said with a bit of exasperation. "Every bit of training I had you do had a reason. No matter how you trained, it was going to be painful for you. Your eyes and body are unique, Ranmaru. They were actually the inspiration for my newest techniques like the Shadow Step Technique and the basis for the Dispersion Seal."

"That reminds me, _Master_," Sasame interjected. "Those seals of yours are troublesome to deal with. I wished that you had given us some kind of way to turn them off if we ran into Oto ninjas."

Naruto looked at her sheepishly. "I never considered that they'd be used against us. I'll give you something to combat people with those seals on. That's the entire point of this conversation right now."

"Huh? What do you mean? Weren't we talking about _me_?"

"We were," Naruto agreed. "Like I said, you're the source of the Dispersion Seal. Haven't you been asking me that it was strange that _you're_ the only one who can use chakra-based techniques against someone with the seals?"

The boy blinked at that. "But I don't nullify chakra."

Naruto shook his head. "You are completely misunderstanding the purpose of the Dispersion Seal."

"What do you mean? Isn't it just supposed to nullify chakra?"

"You are too caught up on the idea of nullifying," Naruto scolded him lightly. "Think more broadly."

"Well, it's not like you ever told me the purpose of the Dispersion Seal. I'm flying blind here!" Ranmaru vented with a scowl. "You never tell me anything specific! For example, I found out that you attacked your ex-girlfriend because she betrayed you _months_ after it happened."

"That was on a need-to-know basis. And during that time, you were also a spy. There's no way I was going to let sensitive information get that close to Kabuto," Naruto explained. "But that's no longer an issue. Listen, chakra is the product of the subconscious molding of physical energy, otherwise known as yang, and spiritual energy, otherwise known as yin. Spiritual energy is used to create things from imagination while physical energy is used to make give life and to make those thoughts permanent. Thus chakra has the quality of being able to do otherwise miraculous things while permanently affecting the world around us. Chakra is the underlying base for the entire world, thus everything, including the rocks, trees, air, has at least minute levels of chakra."

"I still don't follow. What are you getting at? What does yin-yang release have to do with my eyes?"

Naruto scowled at his student. "That's because you haven't heard everything. Shut up for a minute. Spiritual energy and physical energy are mixed almost instantly after they are produced in the body. While people can manipulate ratios of spiritual energy and physical energy in their chakra, there has never been a person who can make or use a pure form of one of the constituents. Except for one person. Someone with rather special eyes."

"You're saying that's me?" Ranmaru said incredulously. "But I don't even think about how to use my eyes. I draw chakra into—"

"No, you draw _spiritual energy_ into your eyes. How else did you think you created free floating illusions without manipulating your victim's chakra? Your illusions are visible to even people wearing chakra-nullifying armor. Your illusions work even after coming in contact with a Dispersion Seal. Did you think all of that was just coincidence?"

"You're saying that Ranmaru expels spiritual energy from his eyes and shaping it into the form he desires outside of his body?"

Naruto nodded at his orange-haired friend and servant.

"I see…and unlike a true genjutsu, even if I can make my illusions interact with the real world by pouring in even more spiritual energy, without physical energy to sustain them, they never last long," Ranmaru frowned. "So are you going to train me on how to use physical energy to help me make my illusions permanent?"

Naruto shook his head. "Your body doesn't produce _any_ physical energy. Your body only absorbs enough physical energy to survive from the food you eat. That's why your endurance is always best right after a meal, unlike most people who simply become too full and sedated to fight. The lack of physical energy was why you were so sickly as a child. "

He saw his student wincing at that. No doubt Ranmaru was thinking upon his memories of Raiga and burying people alive. Naruto felt that Ranmaru punished himself enough but his student still beat himself up every day for what Raiga did with his help.

Ranmaru shook his head to clear his mind and then smiled at a thought. "I see. So that's how the Curry of Life improved my vitality? It was full of physical energy!" Naruto scoffed at that. No matter what his student said, Naruto was never going to take the idea of a Curry of Life seriously.

"Stop calling it the Curry of Life. It just seems like one of those stupid things that you see in fillers of animes. I looked at the recipe and it didn't seem like anything special. I came up with a different theory. I think that your absolute belief in this Curry of Life, as you call it, created a permanent illusion for your body and forced it to live off of pure spiritual energy."

"You're saying that I used my spiritual energy to create an illusory body for myself that sustains me?"

"More or less."

"Don't you think that's crazier than the concept of a Curry of Life? You shouldn't be a heathen, Naruto-sensei. The Curry of Life is real."

Naruto growled. He did not miss the amused look on Ranmaru's face. At this point, his student was just being annoying on purpose to distract himself from his thoughts about Raiga.

"Who knows?" Naruto relented, just to get his student to shut up, "We'll never know for sure. In any case, your vitality _didn't_ improve. It's why your chakra reserves are so low. You're relying on your exterior environment for the physical energy needed to create chakra. And it's also why your training was so excruciatingly painful. You were trying to get you to use a source of power that you just didn't have."

"I see," Ranmaru murmured. "So you created the Star Staff for me so I could use any chakra-based techniques. All the training before then was simply to get an understanding of how chakra worked."

Naruto smiled as Ranmaru touched the staff on his back and lowered his head in a sign of gratitude. The kid was irritating and clueless at times, but his heart was in the right place.

He nodded to confirm his student's statement. "Now, the Dispersion Seal only stops chakra. It does not stop spiritual energy, physical energy, or any other form of energy that is not made of chakra, so you are completely immune to the effects of that seal as long as you use your natural powers."

"So that's why you designed the seal," Sasame breathed out in realization. "It was a training tool to help you understand how Ranmaru's powers worked and for you to find a new source of power. I remember you telling me that you had reached the limits of extending your chakra capacity. I had no idea you were working on something like this."

"Right," Naruto said with a smile. "Now we have a power that only our group can use. I'll teach both of you how to use spiritual energy and physical energy."

"So how does this have to do with my training?"

Naruto ignored the slight shudder that went through the boy's body. Ranmaru was too much of a baby. The training Ranmaru went through had nothing on Gai's or Anko's training curriculums.

"Right now, you have been using yin to simply cast illusions. That's not all you can do. Watch." Naruto ordered as he created multiple projections made of pure spiritual energy. "You saw my original position. Try to hit me."

He smirked when he saw that his student didn't even hesitate to swing his Star Staff down. Ranmaru had even added lightning chakra for good measure. The fool. The idiot was only asking for punishment later on.

Naruto mentally laughed when Ranmaru fumed as the staff missed. It was way too much fun punking the kid.

"What was that?" Sasame asked curiously. "I couldn't even follow you because you weren't using chakra."

"How did you do that?" Ranmaru demanded, "I didn't even see you use any techniques at all! Let me try again with my eyes activated. They don't miss anything!"

"No need for that, since I'm going to explain what just happened," The illusions all disappeared, showing that Naruto had taken the place of one of the other illusions and causing the other two to gasp. "You can actually transport yourself to the location of where your illusion is. I guess you can call it a form of high speed travel."

"Wow," his student said with awe. "This technique has so many possibilities. Taijutsu was never my strength, but with this speeding up my movements, I might even be able to add taijutsu to my repertoire. Up to now, I was only able to use my illusions to trick my opponents into thinking I was in an area I was not. Now I can actually teleport!"

"Remember, this is a technique only _you_ can do."

"But you just did it now!" Ranmaru pointed out.

Naruto nodded. "Partially correct. I can only do this right now because I have a modified Dispersion Seal on me right now," Naruto pulled his hand into a hand sign and let the seal on his forehead glow. "It's forcibly dissipating all of my physical energy. In short, I'm wasting half my energy. Moreover, I'm more of a natural yang user so this technique is extremely difficult and energy-intensive for me to use."

"So it's a technique that requires the user's body to be running on only spiritual energy?"

"Yes," Naruto replied in a serious tone, "Even the smallest bit of physical energy that mixes with that spiritual energy will disrupt the technique. It was extremely painful experimenting to come up with this technique for you. Consider it an early birthday present since I won't be able to make it to the one coming up in a few weeks," Naruto smiled gently as the boy looked down bashfully for a few seconds at that. "It's not quite as flashy as the Star Staff I gave you last year, but it should be even more useful than your staff. You should have no problems with this technique. I am able to use spiritual energy well enough to cast those illusions, which I named as ki feints, but only you'll be able to use them to their fullest potential."

"Anything else?" Ranmaru asked eagerly.

"One more, but before that I need to explain something."

Ranmaru groaned lightly. Ranmaru didn't dislike lectures, but Naruto could tell the boy was excited to test out his early birthday present. "Alright."

"Normally, spiritual energy has the quality of being compacted inside of your body while physical energy has the quality of being expelled from the body. You, however, naturally expel spiritual energy, which allows you to create illusions with ease."

"Yes, it's almost second nature for me," Ranmaru agreed, "but why is that important?"

"Do you know how difficult it is to expel spiritual energy from your body? Those ki feints took me a full year to execute without a flaw. Sasame won't _ever_ be able to use ki feints since she's a pure yang type. Spiritual energy exists within the _mind_. Expelling it out of your body means that you are forcing your will on the exterior environment. That is incredibly difficult to do for even for someone who is able to use spiritual energy. Ranmaru, you are an aberration to the very concept of typical spiritual energy."

"I see." Naruto smacked himself on the forehead when he saw that Ranmaru actually didn't understand. The boy was book-smart, just like Sakura was, but he wasn't very good at linking information together.

"Try the opposite and see how easy it is. Try to _absorb_ the spiritual energy in nature. Compress the energy that you normally send to your eyes to expel from your body, and instead, fill it throughout your entire body. And make sure to calm your spirit. The wilder your emotions, the more your spiritual energy sloshes around inside your body. For this technique, your spiritual energy has to be very still."

Naruto watched as his student meditated.

* * *

**Sea of ashes that was once forests, Land of Rice Fields – March 28, AK 22**

Ranmaru took a deep breath. He wasn't completely sure what spiritual energy was, but he sought out what felt like the energy he regularly felt inside his body.

He grabbed it from his surroundings around him and pulled it into his body. Just as Naruto-sensei had said, it was incredibly easy for him to do.

Suddenly…

The grooves on the rocks.

The insect on the trees.

The flowing of the river.

The vibrations of wind coming from the birds flapping their wings.

His Sensei shifting around almost imperceptibly.

Ranmaru snapped open his eyes. "I can sense it all!" Instantly, the feeling of omniscience disappeared as soon as he got excited.

"That's the spirit field."

"Spirit field?"

"It's a spiritual sphere around you in which you can sense everything. Movement, still objects, everything."

"So it's like a super sensing ability?"

"Sensors only sense chakra. This ability isn't for scouting. It's for fighting."

Ranmaru thought about that. Why would sensing be…_Oh!_

"Ah! I get it! It's for taijutsu battles. I'll be able to detect every little movement that my opponent makes and predict his next move."

"That's right. It's the ultimate taijutsu technique. But remember, the spirit field only activates when you are calm. The moment you get excited, you'll lose the field. So practice it over the next few days. To be honest, I'm shocked that you were able to create a spirit field in the first place. I guess it should have been expected since you're a natural genius at using spiritual energy."

"But I already have my amazing eyes. They can predict anything!"

"Yes, those damn eyes of yours," his sensei growled out. Ranmaru got a sheepish look on his face. He knew that his teacher wasn't a big fan of eye techniques because of his history with Sasuke Uchiha. "The Sharingan gives the user images based on a predictions made by looking at muscle movement and chakra flow. _Your _eyes are able to read spiritual energy flow within the body and more or less 'read' the intentions of your opponent. Both are incredibly predictive abilities, but the user still has to decide how to move. Activate your eyes. I'm going to attack you."

Naruto-sensei summoned five clones, which attacked Ranmaru from left, right, front, back, and from the top.

"Ow! You didn't have to hit me so hard!" Ranmaru rubbed his bruised stomach.

"Oh shut up," came the heartless response. "You're on par with B-ranks; you should be able to tolerate that much pain."

Ranmaru grit his teeth and shook his fist at his sensei. His frustration grew when he saw Sasame-sempai laugh at him. "You were asking for that one, Ranmaru."

"Ugh," he vented, "I get it. Even if I know what you're going to do, there's no point if I can't move think or move fast enough to dodge. You didn't have to hit me to prove that!"

His teacher ignored him. "Activate the spirit field."

This time, Naruto-sensei attacked even faster and without warning, but Ranmaru was somehow able to quickly shift his body into a position where he took the least amount of damage. Fortunately, the least amount of damage in the case was only being grazed by all the attacks.

"Wow! It's almost as if my body moved on its own…"

Naruto-sensei nodded with a smile. "Yes, it takes the 'thinking' aspect out of the question. Your body and mind gain instinctively knowledge on what is the best possible move for that situation. You'll still get hit if the opponent is fast enough and leaves no way out in their attacks, but even if you do get hit, your body will already have shifted into a position to have the least possible damage."

"Sound like Sage Mode and the Byakugan. 360 degree awareness."

"That's simplifying it. Both Sage Mode and the Byakugan are mostly attuned to chakra. Sage Mode goes one step further and sense _danger_. But the spirit field senses _everything_, including the placements inanimate objects and gives you the knowledge of what to do. You won't be debating with yourself whether you have to dodge left or right. You'll already know."

"I see. This really is an amazing taijutsu technique. But wait," Ranmaru frowned. "What if someone just launches a huge ninjutsu technique at me? Then the spirit field becomes useless, right?"

"Ranmaru," he heard Sasame's irritated sigh, "do you ever think before opening that mouth of yours? What is the other yin ability that Lord Naruto taught you today?"

Ranmaru's eyes widened. "The ki feints! I can just cast one with my eyes and switch!"

"Very good." Naruto-sensei said. "Since you won't have the Dispersion Seal on you, you'll be able to use both chakra and spiritual energy at the same time as long as you have your staff at hand. Your body will channel the spiritual energy and the Star Staff will channel the chakra. Just be sure to deactivate your Star Staff and saturated it with spiritual energy when you're moving between your yin constructs. You won't be able to use chakra techniques mid-teleportation, however. So _no _ki feints while you're using the Raikiri Current."

Ranmaru frowned when he remembered something. "I thought you were going to teach me something that would make me an S-rank overnight for a second. These two techniques are powerful, but I don't feel like I'm an S-rank from just that."

"If I recall your words, you wanted something that would allow you to take out S-ranks. With your unique techniques, you'll be able to get the drop on anyone even if you aren't a master yourself." Ranmaru groaned. "You'll get there someday. Just not now. One step at a time, Ranmaru. Even Sasame isn't an S-rank and she's been training for half-a-decade longer than you have."

"Yeah, but you were incredibly powerful at my age," he grumbled in disappointment that he would not become a master by the next day.

"Perhaps, but with this, you'll have mastered something even I can't regularly use even now. I can technically use this spiritual energy technique if you include my clever manipulation of the Dispersion Seal, but that costs me all my yang techniques and my ninjutsu. It's not a viable option for me."

"Well, I can't use physical energy, so we're even," Ranmaru grinned despite the letdown. He was rather pleased with his early birthday presents. And even just recognizing the concept of spiritual energy would open doors for new techniques. "Okay, so you want me to act as Kokuten over the next few weeks?"

"I want you to frighten not just Konoha, but every ninja village. Your new technique should allow you to travel incredibly fast. Just cast the illusions with your eyes and teleport your body to that location and just keep repeating the process. Since you have an exorbitant amount of spiritual energy, you'll rarely get tired from spamming that technique."

"Roger."

His sensei turned to Sasame-sempai and picked her up bridal style. Ranmaru had his eyes activated so he didn't miss the slight tensing on her muscles. He sighed. She should have just told Naruto-sensei that she liked him a long time ago. It would only get more painful for her now that he was married to another woman. "We'll have to get you changed before we leave. Ranmaru…"

He snapped his attention to his teacher. "Yes?"

"Good luck."

Ranmaru nodded. "Thanks a lot." He smirked and decided to throw a parting shot. He knew it wasn't the brightest idea, but there was just something satisfying about irritating his teacher. "You're not such a bastard after all, Sensei."

The next second, Ranmaru was eating ashes as he was crushed into the ground with a heavy pillar of air before Naruto-sensei shadow stepped away.

* * *

**Secret Place, Kumo – March 28, AK 22**

"Uzumaki will be out of the village for the next month. I believe he is scheduled to come back on the last day of April."

Darui looked dispassionately at the projection of the greedy man in front of him. While Kumo would definitely benefit from this man's schemes, Darui couldn't stand being anywhere near a kin traitor like the man in front of him. _I suppose he's not really in front of me_.

"Understood. We will be taking most of the month to train our squad. Our intelligence department has put together a map detailing the entire layout of Konoha. Once inside the village, we will be able to move around relatively unhindered. There is, however, the issue of sneaking in and out of the village and also avoiding detection while in the village."

Darui didn't understand why the Raikage even bothered trying to figure out where the rumored blind spot of the Byakugan was along with the range of the Byakugan. The members of the Hyuuga clan were powerful, but there were already known methods to defeat their style of fighting. Ninjas from Kumo generally favored close combat fighting, which heavily favored the Hyuuga, but it wasn't as if Cloud ninjas were completely helpless at range.

The Hyuuga frowned. "I will try to arrange for our soon-to-be Crown Princess to be outside of the village walls. Security is lax for now, but I assume within a month or two, the girl will officially be declared the Crown Princess. This has to be done before then."

"As we agreed. How will we know where the heiress will be, even if she is outside the village? Will you be giving us her estimated location?"

The Hyuuga tilted his head. "I have a plan to deal with that minor issue. She will be at an appointed place on that day and will be quite easy to locate. Just as insurance, I will have her attendants place a chakra emitting seal to be placed on her clothes. I will give you the chakra frequency so you will be able to follow her."

Darui looked at the man for any signs of deceit. This sounded almost too good to be true.

If there were a trap, it would be…

"I trust that you will give us something to inactivate the seal once we intercept her, correct? It wouldn't be in our best interest if we were to carry her back all the way to Kumo with a tag on her showing her location to the world."

Darui wouldn't put it past Konoha to plan something like that. They would bait Kumo with a prize too good to refuse and then use it as justification to start a war. Everyone would know that Kumo kidnapped the heiress, but there must be no absolute proof. A beacon seal that declared that the girl was in Kumo would be absolute proof.

The Hyuuga chuckled darkly. "If you get caught, then I get caught. I will ensure that you escape safely and without detection. Furthermore, a war is not in my best interest as well. I merely seek to become the ruler of the Hyuuga clan. I am not a warmongering fool. If you do not trust my words, then you can just rip off her clothes. She will become a whore before long. A few days of a head start on that path won't hurt anyone."

Darui would have rolled his eyes if he were so inclined. Giving village secrets to another village and betraying kinsmen and fellow villagers sounded very much like the actions of a "warmongering fool." Not that he would say that to the other Hyuuga. Darui didn't feel that it was his job to wake people up from their delusions, especially if those people were from another village. Moreover, Darui didn't like the Hyuuga's attitude, treating his kin like a common prostitute already.

"Very well. We will plan to carry out this operation on the twenty-seventh of the month. That gives us an entire month to practice our plan of attack while giving us sufficient time to escape from Konoha and be safely back in our village before Uzumaki returns. We trust that you have a contingency plan in place should the Hyuuga clan keep her inside the village."

"Indeed. I do. There is a way to get into the village without using the gates," the man said ambiguously. "If you are able to pass through the chakra barrier surrounding the village, then I can get you inside and provide a way for you to leave without being pursued.

"Details would be nice," Darui said in a dull tone that didn't show how he felt.

"It may not prove to be necessary. I rather not give you more information that necessary," the Hyuuga smirked. "We may be allies today, but we may very well be enemies in the future. I do not wish to hand you a weapon that can be used against me."

Darui was disappointed, but he nodded. Such was the way in the ninja world.

"As agreed, we will hand you 100 million ryo."

Darui ended the connection but he thought he could hear, "A decent price for a weak and pathetic heiress."

He merely shook his head. This world sure had some nasty people.

* * *

AN: It felt like a long time since I had an update...except it's only been a week and half. Guess 12-14 hour shifts 6 days a week make the days seem infinitely long. Can't wait until August already...I'll try to get one or two updates out in July, but no promises. But after that, it should be at a rapid pace again.

Anyway, we begin a new arc! Just so that you know, Naruto and Hanabi probably won't be a part of this mini-arc since they'll be on the first part of their honeymoon. I wanted to take a break from all the fluff. Sorry…And besides, I need to develop other characters a bit more and not just Hanabi.

And sorry for the long-winded explanation about spiritual energy, but it's a key part of this story. You'll probably get one later on for physical energy as well.


	15. Search - The Cold Trail

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. This is fanfiction, after all.

* * *

**Forests beyond the Great Naruto Bridge, Wave Country – April 11, AK 22**

Shikamaru was leading a scouting expedition because of some unsettling rumors about a dark ghost roaming around in Wave Country. They had no other leads on where this cloaked man might be. And if Shikamaru thought about it, given the possible link between Sasuke and the cloaked man, the place of Sasuke's first mission might be as good of a start as any other possible place.

Their current mission was to confirm the identity of and gather any information. It was officially listed as A-rank with the potential to be moved up to S-rank.

"We have arrived," Shikamaru commanded, "Let's stop here. Phoenix, is this area clear?"

Phoenix knelt down and opened up a scroll as dozens of ink mice came from all directions, "All clear, Commander."

He nodded. "Good, now take off your masks and transform."

"Roger," the three chorused as he himself transformed.

Shikamaru looked around as his three subordinates took off their masks. The three faces he saw weren't their original faces, but Shikamaru knew it was Anko (Kappa), Sai (Phoenix), and Aoba (Raven). Anko and Sai were both ANBU captains and thus were given mythical animals as codenames depicting their status. Aoba, while one of the strongest ninjas in the village, had left ANBU for the traditional forces and as such had only a common animal as his codename. All in all, this squad was one of the best, if not the best, Shikamaru was able to put together without negatively affecting Konoha's regular operations.

"Memorize each other's transformed faces. For now, we will continue to use our ANBU codenames. Confirm identity through your chakra tattoos. Do not engage in any fighting and meet back here in a day."

He watched as his three teammates disappeared.

Shikamaru walked to the nearest food shop, disguised as a young entrepreneur. As he bought a few mackerels, his favorite food, he asked the merchant, "Miss, I am interested in starting a business here. While this country is quite prosperous, there seems to be lack of medical herbs. My clan specializes in herbal medicine and I was thinking of setting a branch out here."

The woman smiled as she accepted the money. "Well, we haven't had any shortages in supply even though it does get a bit tiring to go all the way to the mainland to get medicine. The walk across the bridge takes hours. I would say that if you started a business here, you would get a lot of customers among those who don't have the time to cross the bridge. Furthermore, there are still some concerns about safety."

Shikamaru paused at that. Kakashi made it a priority to ensure that all of Konoha's allies were safe. What safety issues could Wave Country possibly have?

"Safety?"

He briefly wondered if this cloaked man was terrorizing the people. Sasuke was never the type to abuse innocents; he was much more concerned about crushing strong opponents.

No, he couldn't think that way. Shikamaru shook his head. He couldn't fall into the trap of automatically assuming that this mysterious man was Sasuke. At this point, nothing was certain and any information would be useful.

"Yes, the bridge itself is long and doesn't connect to an actual port. So occasionally, on the other side of the bridge, people have been robbed."

He frowned at that. Were the people of Wave Country that poor that they couldn't even afford basic protection from bandits?

"Ah, that would be a problem. So what do people do?" Shikamaru asked. It was a leading question, one that could get him some answers.

"You must be new to this place if you haven't heard the rumors going around."

"Rumors?"

"Ah, well, there are rumors that the Daimyo of Wave Country wants to start his own hidden village. We've been far too dependent on Konoha for ninja support. But it takes two weeks to get there by foot so help is slow to come."

Shikamaru furrowed his brow. Ninjas could cross the distance in two days, but he wasn't going to tell her that. In any case, the woman did have a valid point. It _would_ take time to get a message to Konoha and then wait for help to arrive. Even though it might not be the two-week-long wait the woman described, it still wouldn't be immediate help that some of the Wave Country people might need.

He decided to probe further, however. He and Kakashi had not heard any such rumors about a new hidden village; Wave Country was forbidden from pursuing such a goal in its treaty with the Land of Fire and Konoha.

"Ah I see! If Wave Country decides to build a hidden village here, it would make my decision to come here that much easier. I too had been somewhat worried about protecting my business."

The merchant smiled, but shook her head. "I don't want to be the messenger of bad news, but there's nothing substantial yet. After all, rumors are just rumors. I only brought it up because I personally think that the rumors of a hidden village began only because of a small ninja business that started up a few weeks ago, doing tasks that ninjas are good at for bargain prices. At first people were skeptical, but now, whenever people have to travel or get something difficult done, we call them."

"Interesting," he murmured to himself as he thanked the woman and left.

It wasn't quite the information he was looking for but it was something of relevance. Because the Wave Country's relative proximity to Konoha and Wave's good relationship with Naruto, the citizens of Wave Country almost exclusively used the ninja services provided by Konoha.

Was the service that Konoha provided really poor? Shikamaru frowned. No, that couldn't be it. Konoha always encouraged its ninjas to do quality work. Shikamaru gazed at the large bridge in the background. Naruto changed the fortunes of this country around so it wasn't likely that Wave Country was upset at Konoha. Then why were there rumors of wanting to start a hidden village within this country?

And this small ninja business sounded somewhat similar to what Akatsuki had done in the past.

This would merit more investigation later. For now he needed to focus on Sasuke, or whoever this man was.

Shikamaru continued to think to himself until he saw some children playing. There were four of them there, and they playing some game that required them to stay in their own individual boxes as they passed a ball around.

Shikamaru paused and weighed the risks and benefits. While children were often useful sources of information as they spoke without thinking, they also spread the word about your presence. It was a double-edged sword.

He made his decision. "Hi there, kids! I'm an acupuncturist looking to start an herbal medicine business here. I've been traveling around and heard some stories about a scary cloaked man wearing a black mask. You hear anything about that?"

There was a small pause as the children thought on that.

"Oh yeah!" a little girl nodded eagerly. "Everyone's been talking about a dark ghost that comes and goes."

"A ghost?"

"Yup!" this time a little boy spoke up. "They say it's the ghost of the Hero of the Wave, Lord Kaiza, watching over us."

"Meh! I asked that Old Man Tazuna about that. He says it's not true. He agrees that the dark man is watching over us, but that isn't Lord Kaiza."

"That old fart doesn't know anything! He's senile!"

"Hey! He's a nice old man! He's the one who built the Great Naruto Bridge! And he gives me candy every time I see him!"

"That's just something he brags about. Did you see him build it?!" A pause. "No! I thought not! And the candy's just his way of making you like him. You idiot!"

Shikamaru tuned out the arguing kids as he thought about the information he had been given. Tazuna was only an artisan but he had been elevated to minor nobility by the Wave Daimyo after his service to Wave Country. There was no way that the man was senile just yet.

That meant only two options. One, Tazuna wanted to allay fears about a ghost or criminal gallivanting in Wave Country. Two, Tazuna was an ally of the masked man and knew who he was.

The only issue was that there was be no way Tazuna would be helping Sasuke. While Sasuke was technically honorably discharged from Konoha, almost everyone in the Elemental Nations knew that Sasuke was extremely dangerous. Even Tazuna, who owed Sasuke a favor for that ill-fated C-rank mission, would not be so crazy as to help the Uchiha and risk Konoha's ire.

Shikamaru quietly walked away from the children, who were still arguing and insulting one another.

There would only be one way to find out.

* * *

**Secret Hideout, Wave Country – April 11, AK 22**

Ranmaru was facing a browned-haired person who suddenly transformed to a young black-haired man wearing ANBU gear, including a phoenix mask on his head.

"Sai? Did Sensei ask you to contact me?"

"No," Sai answered. "I am currently on an assignment to find a masked man that Konoha is familiar with. I know that you are currently acting as Kokuten and wanted to give you a warning."

Ranmaru frowned. He hadn't expected Konoha to be on his trail already. After all, it had only been two weeks. And he had made sure to cause trouble away from Wave Country. "Your village's intelligence unit is amazing. I've been extremely careful when moving around as Kokuten. To think that they tracked me down all the way to Wave Country."

This wasn't good. Ranmaru knew that Sai was a borderline S-rank ninja. If Konoha was sending someone like him to investigate, it was serious. The rest of his squads were likely to all be elites.

"I like to think that it's more because of your ineptitude, Ranmaru. You were seen by _civilians._" Ranmaru would have punched the tactless boy in the face if they weren't in such a dire situation. Sai was insufferable with his insults. Even his compliments were backhanded compliments most of the time. "Nonetheless, you don't have too much to worry about. We're in Wave with shoddy intelligence. The head of our intelligence unit, Ibiki Morino, heard from his operatives about rumors of a masked and cloaked man. We're here based on those rumors. Your identity and location haven't been compromised yet."

Ranmaru sighed in relief. He would never admit it to Sai, but it would have been pathetic if he failed his teacher so soon.

"Can you give me an estimate of your squad's battle strength?" Ranmaru asked. "I'm pretty sure I'll be able to escape easily if I'm caught, but it's still better to be prepared."

Sai frowned at this. "I wouldn't be too confident about escaping. I know that your eyes are powerful, but my entire squad is composed of A-ranks. I'm not sure if you received a bingo book with Konoha's ninjas, but my teammates are Aoba Yamashiro, Anko Mitarashi, and Shikamaru Nara. In a straight up fight, you'd be massacred. Even against _one_ of us, you would have a hard time."

"Perhaps," Ranmaru conceded. He wasn't arrogant enough to deny the truth. But ninjas never fought fair and square. With enough preparation, _anyone_ could be taken down. "Well, I recently learned a new technique for high speed movement," Ranmaru explained. "If the only ones here are the ones you named, then I should be fine. In fact, I think Naruto-sensei's the only one who'd be able to catch me from your village."

Sai nodded. "Well, I doubt any one person could beat Naruto at this point. It makes me a bit surprised why they haven't recalled him and sent Naruto after Kokuten. Konoha hasn't been shy about overworking Naruto in the past."

"Who knows?" Ranmaru shrugged. "A change of heart? Maybe they're finally viewing him as more than just a weapon pointed at Konoha's enemies?"

"From Konoha?" Sai shook his head. "Impossible. Konoha is rotten to the core. Even worse than it could have been under Danzo."

Ranmaru wasn't sure if he agreed. Danzo would have thrown the entire world into an endless war. The façade of peace they had been painfully bought by the sacrifices of the poor and of the few good people willing to take hits, but it was better than _everyone_ suffering.

"In any case," Ranmaru said, redirecting the conversation away from an irrelevant topic, "I'm not too concerned about myself. I'm more concerned about little Yuna."

"She's here with you?" Sai asked with a raised eyebrow. "That is quite…" A pause. "Surprise."

Ranmaru knew that was Sai's equivalent of saying, "What the hell?!" Sai kept his emotions tightly controlled and even in situations where Sai tried to express himself, Sai would be at a loss of how to react properly.

Ranmaru didn't blame him. Yuna was strong for her age, but she was still only ten years old. She would be a liability against a squad of elites.

"She's currently out training. I'll have to find her as soon as possible. Your squad is probably looking for any suspicious activity and they'll be able to pick up on her if she continues training."

"Why is Yuna here in the first place?"

"Well, Sempai and Sensei are both gone, so I'm the only one who can take care of her. Naruto-sensei told me to train Yuna while I was here."

Sai somehow managed to look unhappy even with his near expressionless face. "This isn't good. Yuna attracts a lot of attention to herself. If Konoha catches you, the entire plan is ruined. We spent _years_ investing in this project. I've personally managed to gain the trust of a lot of important people in Konoha during that time in order to set them up for a huge fall. But even I don't have the political capital to cover something like this up."

"Then what do you suggest? It's Sensei's will for me to watch over her. And she's young; there's no way she can just live by herself."

Ranmaru waited as the young man thought of a solution.

"Shikamaru is here because he's looking for information about Kokuten. We'll just have to use some misdirection."

"Misdirection?"

"Naruto taught you his Raikiri Current, right?" Sai asked carefully.

Ranmaru nodded. "Yeah, he did. He said he developed it after seeing Sasuke Uchiha use it many times. It's based on your Hokage's Raikiri though and has denser lightning chakra."

"Good," Sai replied with a short nod. "Tomorrow, near this time, my squad is meeting near the Great Naruto Bridge. You need to show up and 'attack' us using lightning attacks, especially the Chidori variants. Once we start giving chase, disappear towards the Land of Fire. If you're as fast as you claim you are, then you should have no problems even with only the Great Naruto Bridge as your sole route of escape. That will turn the investigation away from the Wave Country and might even satisfy Shikamaru enough to go back to Konoha."

"I see," Ranmaru said in a thoughtful voice. "You want me to fool them into thinking that Kokuten is Sasuke. Any particular reason?"

"Being one of the four ANBU sub-commanders, I have access to the most classified documents. It appears that Shikamaru and the Hokage believe Uchiha is Kokuten. If we play this correctly, this should only reinforce their views."

"There's only one problem," Ranmaru answered back. "Sensei doesn't want me to operate inside of the Land of Fire."

"At this point, it's either us investigating Wave Country or you operating in the Land of Fire. Take your pick."

"Naruto-sensei's going to be really mad at me."

That's your problem to deal with," Sai said with an incredibly fake smile. "I'm sure Naruto will just let you off with some minor training to make up for your pathetic deficiencies."

Ranmaru blanched at the idea of "minor training." Naruto-sensei was going to _kill_ him if he disobeyed orders. He groaned as the ANBU operative started to make preparations for their escape plan. Ranmaru knew that his hideout was no longer safe and that they had to destroy it. It would be a pain in the ass constantly being on the move instead of having one hideout, but that was the only plan that they had. If anyone from Konoha managed to catch Yuna, things would get difficult.

* * *

**Forest near the Great Naruto Bridge, Wave Country – April 11, AK 22**

Like his sempai, Ranmaru was a sensor. His particular sensing ability was only active with his eyes on or with his spirit field activated, however, and this time he didn't want to rely on his unique skills too much. He had to diversify his skills.

So it took some time for him to find the blond Yuna Kiyomizu who was improving her archery skills near the small waterfall.

Ranmaru watched her pull her chakra string back on the white wooden bow and create a chakra arrow before firing at a make-shift target she had made about twenty meters away. Judging by the holes, she was hitting the center each time.

Yuna was his sensei's youngest associate. Two years ago, her parents were killed in front of her and she was about to be abused in _that_ way despite her young age. According to Yuna, his sensei had come, had talked to the murderers for a few seconds, and then had _moved_.

He decided he had had enough and moved to accost her. He made sure to activate his eyes. Yuna was sure to overreact.

"Yuna," he called out. Instantly, her eyes hardened and she leapt into the air.

Ranmaru rolled his eyes as the girl fired a volley of arrows. The girl always overreacted. Ranmaru merely took his staff out and noticed with some pride that there was water-natured chakra in the arrows. To counter, he called upon earth-natured chakra and blocked all the arrows as dirt and smoke were kicked up all around him.

"I bet he's toast! No one sneaks up on Yuna Kiyomizu and lives to tell the tale!"

"Your firing speed improved," Ranmaru said dully as the smoke dissipated with the help of a small wind technique. "On top of that you managed to combine shape manipulation with nature manipulation. Good job with those water arrows."

"Eh?" she pointed at him. "Big Brother Ranmaru? Let's play again!"

Ranmaru nodded and disappeared from her view. The next second he held her up in the air by the neck. The girl hadn't even been able to put up a meager defense. "Yuna, it's clear that you haven't been doing your speed training for the last week. You should have been able to dodge that by now."

"Aww…" she asked, not even bothering to struggle. "I lost too quickly."

Ranmaru dropped her and smiled as she landed on the stream without getting wet. At the very least, the girl had _greatly _increased her skill in chakra control and manipulation through his training.

"We have a bad situation, Yuna."

"Huh? Really?"

He nodded. "We have some bad people from Konoha chasing us so we'll have to lie low for some time. That means no training and no talking to strangers, okay?"

"Eh?" the girl whined. "But it's boring if I don't train! I'll just beat up all the bad people and make them go away!"

"Yuna," Ranmaru said with all the patience he could muster. It wouldn't do well to yell at a ten-year-old. "We'll worry about beating them up later on. Right now, Naruto-sensei wants us to remain unseen."

"Awww," she said disappointedly, "okay. I'll behave. Master is on his honeymoon so I won't cause any problems."

"Good," he nodded. "We also have another mission coming up once Sensei gets back."

"A mission?" Yuna asked excitedly. "What are we going to do? Are we going to take down monsters and evildoers?"

Ranmaru rolled his eyes at the childish ambitions. "No, we're going to start making moves against Konoha."

"We're going to attack a great village?" she gasped. "That's suicide, even for someone as amazing as Master! I heard rumors that a gigantic fox comes down from the heavens to protect Konoha. Master's strong, but he can't beat a deity!"

Ranmaru groaned at her over-imaginative mind. "No Yuna, we're going to infiltrate Konoha as servants. Attacking Konoha will come much later."

"Oooh! So we're going to pretend to be villagers? Can I become a genin instead? I always wanted one of those forehead protectors," she pointed at her headband.

"Hm…"

Ranmaru considered it. They were supposed to enter as hired servants, but it technically couldn't hurt to enter as wandering genin looking for work. He was slightly on the older side for genin, but the plan might work. He would have to check with his master. In his opinion, it would be much better than entering as servants.

"Hey, Big Brother Ranmaru," Ranmaru blinked as Yuna waved her hand in his face, "You just zoned out there. I know you're starting to get old, but I think you're getting senile, too."

There was a brief pause before he decided to teach the annoying little girl a lesson.

He leaked his chakra pressure and glared at her with his red eyes only to find her eyes extremely big and sparkly. He tried to resist and stay angry but ended up sighing before lifting his aura.

"Ugh, damn it, Yuna. I hate that look of yours. How a demon like you ends up looking like an angel, I have no idea…"

"Hehe, Big Brother Ranmaru, you can't hit me, can you? I'm just _too_ cute, huh?" the girl taunted while flashing an innocent smile.

Ranmaru put his face in his hands and groaned in frustration. The girl _definitely_ knew what she was doing. The carefree and idiotic persona was_ definitely_ an act. "If you keep doing that, then I'm not going to let you become a ninja even if Sensei allows it."

The girl turned and gave him a rather evil smirk. "Yeah? And what are you doing to do when Master decides to train you for an entire day as a punishment."

Ranmaru paled. Serious training with his sensei was not fun in the least. He was already going to get punished for operating in the Land of Fire. If Yuna made Naruto-sensei angrier at him…Ranmaru shuddered. His sensei had said it was painful because Ranmaru couldn't properly use chakra, but Ranmaru didn't agree. His teacher was just a sadist.

Yuna's smirk grew wider. "Master loves me, you know. I can get him to punish you _whenever_ I want," she said in a singsong voice. Her voice then turned pitiful, "Master! Big Brother Ranmaru hit me on the face when we were sparring. Master! Big Brother Ranmaru didn't want to buy me candy. Master! Big Brother Ranmaru made me cry! WAHHHH! MASTER! BIG BROTHER RANMARU—"

"I get it! I get it!" Ranmaru said, now more alarmed by the chance that one of the ANBU operatives would catch them than Yuna's threat. "If Sensei allows it, you'll get your damn forehead protector."

Yuna ran to give him a hug. "Yay!"

A sweat drop just appeared on the side of his head.

* * *

**Outskirts of the town, Wave Country – April 11, AK 22**

Anko Mitarashi was anything but happy at this point. She was going through dango withdrawal and her search for the prick of an Uchiha was going nowhere.

She initially accepted this mission to extract her pound in flesh from the former Orochimaru boy toy. She had nothing personal against the Uchiha, but she wanted to eradicate any evidence of her old teacher from the world. If it meant ripping the last Uchiha to shreds, so be it.

She didn't think it would be this hard. From everything she knew about the Uchiha, he was arrogant and welcomed any challenge and threat on his life. More and more, she was getting suspicious that this _Kokuten_ wasn't Sasuke Uchiha.

Things just didn't add up.

She was currently heading towards the home of a man named Tazuna. Apparently, he was the leader of this particular town. She didn't care about protocol at this point; she would just get her answers by threatening the man.

"Kappa."

She jumped and got into a defensive stance when she saw that it was the transformed form of Dragon, the ANBU Commander.

"Yes?"

"You're heading to Tazuna's place, I presume?"

She nodded. "I heard his name mentioned multiple times. I figure the best way to get information is to get it from the leader of the town."

"I hope that doesn't mean threatening to cut off his family jewels," Dragon said dryly.

"Tch," she grumbled, a bit upset at being found out. "This mission is a waste of our time. There's really nothing here."

"I wouldn't say that," Dragon shook his head. "I'm not sure if you heard or not, but there are rumors of a new hidden village here."

She raised an eyebrow. "You actually believe those? Wave Country knows that it's going to get crushed by Konoha if they started anything like that. I'm more interested in this little ninja enterprise that a small company set up."

"I heard about that as well. After all, Akatsuki started up that way as well so I checked up on. The company is called Kiyomizu Angels and is comprised of only genin-level workers. It seems that they do take some low C-rank missions as well, but they don't seem to be much of a threat to Konoha. Even the workers aren't really ninjas; they're just people who know how to use chakra."

Anko frowned. "You mean like the samurai of Iron Country?"

Dragon nodded. "It's not as if chakra usage is banned so people using this company are not technically breaking the terms of the treaty. And this company is doing D-ranks that need to be done on a daily basis."

"I see. Konoha doesn't take D-rank missions requests from foreign countries so there was a demand for that."

"Yes," Dragon agreed before gesturing ahead. "It looks like we're here. Let's go in."

Anko stepped up to the gate and knocked. "Hello? We're looking for a senile old man named Tazuna!"

"Anko," Dragon groaned. "You can't go about it like that. He's a noble. I'm beginning to think you're venting your frustrations by intentionally sabotaging this mission."

She shrugged. In her opinion, there was no mission to sabotage in the first place. They were just grasping at straws at this point. And from what she heard, this Tazuna was once a commoner and lived among the people as one. He might respond more to familiarity and crude language over formality.

The gates opened to reveal a beautiful woman dressed in a formal kimono. Anko appraised her. The woman was about the same age as she was. Despite her soft features and the humble air around her, and the fact that she opened the gates herself rather than sending out servants to do so, she looked every bit like a noblewoman.

"May I ask who so graciously demands an audience with _Lord_ Tazuna? Otherwise, my senile _father_ might think enemies are after his life."

Anko wanted to cackle as Dragon got an uncomfortable expression on his face as he tried to think his way out of the situation.

"We are humble visitors from the Land of Fire. We're a couple," Anko threw Dragon a dirty look, "hoping to start a herbal business here in Wave Country. We wanted to speak with Lord Tazuna about his thoughts. The people in the town suggested that we come here. Please excuse my wife's language. It's _that _time of the month."

Anko wanted to strangle Dragon at that remark. The woman in front of them stepped back in mild surprise and laughed lightly at the excuse. "Ah, yes, well do come in. I'm sure my father will have quite a lot to say on that matter."

"Welcome!" Tazuna shouted in a jolly tone as they walked in. "Tsunami, can you get some tea for our visitors. " They sat down. "Now then," Tazuna waved, "what bring you to our country."

Shikamaru repeated his story. "We are humble visitors from the Land of Fire and wanted to start a herbal business here in Wave Country. We are only in the beginning phases of our plan and haven't obtained a license or bought real estate here, but we wanted to scout the land before making any decisions."

"Ah yes! Wave Country doesn't have too many herbal businesses here so your super herbal business will thrive here! The prices you'll get are super and—"

Anko decided to cut in before the man rambled on. "We heard rumors about a masked and cloaked man here and were wondering if you had any bandit problems."

The old man brief paused and she thought she saw a flash of intelligence in his eyes before he laughed loudly. It was so brief, she convinced herself that she imagined it. Especially considering that his next response was so stupid.

"Oh no bandits! The masked man you hear about is the super will of Naruto Uzumaki, manifested as a spirit—"

Anko groaned internally. It was going to be one of _those_ nights. A long night without booze to drink, dango to chomp on, people to torture, or any useful information to obtain.

* * *

**Tazuna's home, Wave Country – April 12, AK 22**

"How is the progress going, Lord Tazuna?" Sai look at retired bridge builder and now minor noble.

"We have already gotten permission from the Wave Daimyo secretly long ago," Tazuna said proudly, holding out a wine glass. "The drilling has finished a few months ago and the building is now half complete."

"That is good news," Sai smiled. "The construction of the new village may be finished in two years."

"Ah, I almost forgot. Why has that Ranmaru boy been here for the last two weeks? It was hard trying to convince people that there wasn't a ghost flying around."

Sai felt irritated at the boy's ineptitude but decided to take his frustrations out on the boy when he returned to the village. He was supposed to remain _unseen_ at all times, but had foolishly left his illusions up for everyone to see. Sai was normally a calm person, but there was just something about Ranmaru that made Sai want to beat the crap of him. Sai had mentioned it to Naruto and Sasame and was both amused and intrigued when he found that they both felt the same way.

What was the term that Naruto had used? Oh yes, _bully magnet_.

Sasame had shrugged and passed it off as something masters felt towards their disciples.

In any case, Sai felt pleased that his emotions were much more in line with normal emotional people. If Naruto wasn't considered emotional, then Sai didn't know who was.

"Naruto has been on his honeymoon and couldn't act as himself. Ranmaru was ordered to act as Kokuten in his place."

Tazuna took a drink of wine before looking at Sai again. "It wasn't easy to act crazy to get those strange people to stop asking me questions yesterday evening. It was clear that they were under some sort of transformation technique so I provided the least amount of information as possible and tried to act crazy so that the information I _did_ give them would be disregarded."

Sai bowed his head lightly in apology. "They were ANBU operatives from Konoha. Konoha has started to hunt for Kokuten and discovered that there were rumors of a masked man in this village thanks to Ranmaru's incompetence."

Tazuna guffawed loudly. "Don't be too harsh on the child. It's already impressive that he can hold his own against the strongest ninjas at that age."

"With all due respect, Kokuten and I were already fighting S-ranks at Ranmaru's age," Sai pointed out. "A squad of elites would have been a walk in the park for us back then."

"Well, that's an unfair comparison. Naruto is the most powerful person in the Elemental Nations." Tazuna pointed towards the bridge. "If he could help me build _that_ when he was just a brat, I shudder to think how strong he is now. You can't hold Ranmaru up to those standards. And besides, he's stronger than Inari and Inari's been training for much longer."

Sai gave up after that. The conversation was done after the old man brought his grandson into it. Any more and the man would be offended at the insinuation that his _chuunin_ grandson was weak. Instead, Sai smiled and nodded at the compliment on behalf of his friend. It wasn't often when people actually gave Naruto genuine praise from the bottom of their hearts. "How are the finances going?"

"Steady," the old man laughed. "More than enough to keep all the workers happy. To be honest, it's been quite a boon for Wave Country. I don't know how Naruto has so much money, but I'm not complaining. But tell me something. Is there a reason why this village Naruto is having us build _underground_?" Tazuna muttered.

"The reasons are two-fold, Lord Tazuna. First, being underground will keep the new village safe from attack. Wave Country is a rather small country and is prone to being attacked."

"And the second reason?"

Sai smiled again. "Again, the reason has to do with the fact that Wave County is small. There is no room for growth if the village becomes large in the future."

"But it's not like the village can grow underground. We can only drill only a certain amount of rock beneath the ground before everything above collapses," Tazuna argued.

Sai pulled out new specifications for Nami, the Hidden Wave Village. "What we asked you to do so far is to drill underneath the uninhabited area off to the east. If you look here, these are plans for the growth of Nami. Kokuten and I are working on various ways to make life underwater possible."

"Underwater?" Tazuna gasped. "That's impossible! Even if you were to create a city behind glass or metal, the water pressure would eventually cause structures to break. Even chakra-reinforced material can't withstand the forces of nature."

"Fuinjutsu generally allows us to break the boundaries of reality," Sai responded in a calm tone. "Both Kokuten and I are fuinjutsu masters, one of the few left in this world. We can make this work."

Tazuna shook his head. "Still impossible. Fuinjutsu can hold for decades, but it too requires chakra. Chakra degrades over decades. The effort needed to constantly replenish those seals is impractical. Not to mention, fuinjutsu is a dying art. There's no guarantee that those coming after you will be masters capable of maintaining such a large sealing array that's needed to make this plan viable."

"Impressive," Sai compliment, mildly surprised by the man's knowledge. "You are well informed of the ninja arts."

"Of course," Tazuna grunted. "After that mission where I had to build a bridge, I learned everything I could about ninjas to better protect myself. I personally can't use any ninjutsu, but my grandson Inari is quite the talented ninjutsu user."

Sai nodded. "Naruto has told me as much. In fact, Inari will be one of the founding members of the new village, if you are able to complete this for us."

Tazuna frowned. "It's not about willingness, Sai. And I would do this even if Inari weren't considered a founding member. It's about what is possible. I still don't see how this can actually be done. The underground chamber we built so far should be more than enough space for a minor village."

"We're not interested in just a minor village, Lord Tazuna. And normally, we would be inclined to agree with you that something like this isn't possible. However," Sai created ice out of mid-air before dissolving it into water and then finally air, "we have discovered a new way of manipulating nature itself. "

"Ice chakra nature manipulation?" Tazuna gasped. "That's just like the extinct Yuki clan!"

Sai shook his head. "This isn't chakra manipulation at all. This is pure water manipulation. With this we can nullify the water pressure. Naruto and I have personally developed and are mastering a new branch of sealing arts that manipulates the properties of nature itself."

"But fuinjutsu needs to be maintained with chakra!"

"This isn't chakra-based fuinjutsu, Lord Tazuna. We use something called spiritual energy and physical energy. By harnessing the physical energy present in nature itself, we can make a self-sustaining sealing array that doesn't have to be maintained by anyone."

"That still doesn't solve the problem of what would happen if the seals were to get damaged."

"We know, but that's a risk we are willing to take. We can create hundreds of backup layers if that will appease you and the others, but there are risks inherent with any village," Sai explained logically. "If we built a village above the ground, then you would be more prone to attacks. If we built a village in the air, then there would be a risk of the village itself falling to the ground. All things considered, we came to the conclusion that the best way to go might be to go underwater. If you are still unsatisfied, then the underground portion can be for the civilians while the underwater portion can be for the ninjas."

"Very well," Tazuna nodded. "It seems like you has placed quite a bit of thought into this. Quite different from the loud-mouthed person he once was."

Sai's eyes narrowed and hardened at the statement as he remembered what had happened between Naruto and Sakura. "Time changes people."

"Indeed."

* * *

**Forests beyond the Great Naruto Bridge, Wave Country – April 12, AK 22**

Shikamaru looked at his team members. Sai (Phoenix), Anko (Kappa), and Aoba (Raven) had all arrived at the meeting place on time.

"Did any of you find something out?"

Aoba, no, _Raven_, shook his head as they all put their masks back on and released the transformation technique. "Nope, all I got were vague rumors about a man in a dark robe and mask. Some people were convinced that he was the Shinigami."

"Dragon and I ran into each other at the same place. Both of us discovered that this Tazuna person was telling children that the masked man was not someone to be afraid of," Kappa purred while twirling a kunai.

"Did you interrogate him?" Phoenix asked in a somewhat interested voice.

"Phoenix," Shikamaru groaned, "you know we can't use standard interrogation procedures on civilians in another country. That's grounds for war. Even if Wave Country is small, the economic fallout would be significant."

"So then, what _did_ you find out?" Raven asked curiously.

"Nothing really," Kappa muttered. "The man was just senile, cackling at random points and mentioning the word 'super' a bunch of times."

"And he seemed to think that the masked man was Naruto Uzumaki's will floating through the Wave Country and protecting it from outsiders," Shikamaru said with a frown, even though he knew they couldn't see it.

"Naruto?" Raven asked incredulously. "That's ridiculous! There's no way Naruto would be an enemy to Konoha."

"Right," Shikamaru nodded. "I got the feeling that the old man knew a bit more than he was letting on, but as Kappa stated, his mind was completely a mess. He was randomly blurting out different facts about the past."

"But why Naruto?" Phoenix asked, sounding slightly alarmed. "There has to be a reason for the man to name Naruto of all people."

"I thought about it as well, but it makes sense he would pick Naruto." Shikamaru gestured towards the bridge. "We're talking about the guy who named his bridge after Naruto in gratitude for saving this country."

"I checked the marketplace after our talk with him," Kappa added with her arms folded. "There are a bunch of stores that have the names of that team that was sent here on that mission. You can see Naruto Ramen, Sakura Apparel, Kakashi Books, and more. I think I even saw a Sasuke gay bar."

There was a long silence among the men at the last comment.

"You're kidding," Shikamaru replied in a dry tone.

"Awww, don't be like that," she answered back in a hurt voice. "Are you questioning my loyalty or ability to report information?"

"No," Shikamaru muttered, "just your sanity. You know that homosexuality is illegal in most countries."

"Tch," Kappa grunted. "Fine, I didn't see a gar bar. I just wanted to lighten up the mood, you know? And it's not like Uchiha ever showed interest in a girl so I figured it made sense."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes behind his mask. He would never get used to Kappa's strange sense of humor. "Whatever. In any case, we're still lacking a lot of information, unless you have anything else to add, Phoenix…"

Phoenix stood there silently for a bit. Shikamaru gave him the time to gather his thoughts. Phoenix was one of the best operatives they had and would have been the ANBU Commander if he hadn't had ties to Danzo Shimura. Even after all these years, there was still some suspicion among the upper echelon in Konoha that Phoenix wasn't entirely loyal. Naruto and Kakashi shot those suspicions down, but trust was earned not given.

"I managed to find what appeared to be a hideout," Phoenix finally said. "I believe it is where this unknown man is staying."

"What?!" Shikamaru hissed. "Then take us there now!"

Phoenix shook his head. "There will be no need to. I already destroyed the hideout."

"You little inexperienced bastard," Kappa whispered angrily, "How will that help us gather information at all?"

"I'll have you know that I'm not a virgin," Phoenix deadpanned.

"You little—"

"And you had no confirmation that it was this mask man's hideout," Raven interrupted, ignoring Phoenix's comment and Kappa's outburst. "You should have just reported back here."

Shikamaru thought for a second. Phoenix was not a person who did anything without thinking things through. His loyalty might be in question, but his skills and mind were not.

"Explain yourself, Phoenix," he ordered.

"I noticed quite a few traps in the area," Phoenix explained. "I was only able to bypass all of them because I am able to move through the air. Getting near the hideout would have been impossible."

"Then we could have hitched a ride on one of your ink birds," Kappa hissed. "You just blew a chance to gain more information."

"Kappa, quiet," Shikamaru ordered. "I'm sure Phoenix knew what he was doing."

"I operated based on the hypothesis that our enemy is Sasuke. I destroyed his place and left a message telling him a time and place where we could fight face to face. There's still a few hours before the appointed time, so we can set up traps here and fight on our own terms and not his."

Raven groaned. "He's not going to fall for that!"

For a normal opponent, that could be correct, but Sasuke was _notoriously _idiotic when it came to the idea of getting even. Sasuke loved revenge more than Hinata loved Naruto and that was _still_ an understatement. If Phoenix destroyed Sasuke's hideout, Sasuke would definitely come running out to get revenge and to prove a point.

But Sasuke wasn't a complete idiot either. He had to know that he was going into a trap. Furthermore, Sasuke was dangerous.

Yet something about what Phoenix said didn't seem right. He seemed a bit _too_ confident that Sasuke would foolishly come without thinking about the consequences.

"Wait, did you address him as Sasuke or something else?" Shikamaru interrupted suddenly. "If this enemy isn't Sasuke, he's not going to take the bait. He'll just spring our trap against us."

"Neither," Phoenix said in an odd tone. "I just called him by a nickname. It always used to make Sasuke unreasonably angry. It's why I'm sure he'll come straight for us."

"And that nickname is…" he probed, dreading the answer. If Chouji's and Ino's actions were anything to go by, the nickname was _not_ pleasant.

"Dickless."

There was an extremely long pause. It was so quiet that they could even hear the wind blowing through the air.

"You just poked a sleeping dragon in the eye," Kappa groaned, slapping herself on her mask. But she started chuckling. "But I got to give you props with the nickname. It's hilarious. Plus," she turned to look between Phoenix's legs, "You must be packing quite a lot to insult an S-rank like that."

"We're going to die, aren't we?" Raven moaned. "Sasuke's not going to even give us a chance to escape. Did you have to intentionally provoke a fight?"

Shikamaru didn't say anything and though to himself while his other three teammates bickered amongst themselves to get rid of the stress before getting into a fight with an S-rank.

Kakashi was right. This _was_ a suicidal mission and Shikamaru didn't have any intentions of leaving alive if it meant getting invaluable intel on this new threat. So he wasn't completely opposed to a fight.

Phoenix must have felt the same thing and intentionally goaded Sasuke or whoever the hell it was.

However, they needed to figure out a way to get at least _one_ of them out to report back to Konoha.

* * *

AN: It's been some time, eh? I'd love to say updates will be coming faster, but I'm at a loss of how to write this mini-arc. It wasn't one that was initially planned so I'm kind of making things up as I go along. If worse comes to worse, I'll just wrap it up in one more chapter and skip on ahead.


	16. Search - Holding Down the Fort

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. This is fanfiction, after all.

* * *

**Forests beyond the Great Naruto Bridge, Wave Country – April 12, AK 22**

Ranmaru was annoyed and irritated despite knowing that it had all been a part of the plan. Sai did not have to insist on leaving that stupid note.

Ranmaru looked down at the crumpled note in his hand.

_Hey Dickless, _

_Meet me at the Great Naruto Bridge at 8 p.m. Perhaps if you had a dick, it might have been named after you. _

_- Phoenix_

Even though it wasn't directed at him, Ranmaru was still upset. If Sai needed proof, then Ranmaru could have made a show of being angry in front of the Konoha team. There was no need to question his manhood.

Ranmaru wanted to smack himself in the head. His sensei, his sempai, and Sai all constantly made his life hell in some way. He sometimes wondered why he followed them at all.

It was getting near the appointed time and Ranmaru was quickly racing towards the Great Naruto Bridge at the fastest speed he could using only physical abilities. He didn't want to unnecessarily waste spiritual energy even though he had that in spades.

There would be traps and three—four if Sai were to be counted—elites to escape from. He would need every advantage he could get.

Ranmaru landed near the bridge, threw the note down to the ground in "anger" (as he was instructed to), and looked around.

Ranmari often heard his teacher imitating Sasuke's attitude and decided to put that knowledge to work.

"Where is the fool who destroyed my hideout?"

He made an extra effort to sound constipated, which was exactly how Naruto sounded whenever he imitated Sasuke. Ranmaru was almost certain that the legendary ninja didn't speak in such a way and chalked it up as Naruto insulting Sasuke as part of their petty rivalry, but Sai had confirmed that Sasuke Uchiha sounded even worse. In Sai's words, Sasuke spoke as if there was "a long rod stuck in his anal cavity."

Ranmaru mentally shrugged as he remembered the strange smile on Sai's face as he made his remark. _Whatever…I'm not sure if they're trying to make fun of me or make fun of Sasuke, but if they are willing to compromise their plans by telling me false information, then that's their problem. _

In any case, the voice alteration device in Kokuten's mask garbled much of his voice, so there probably wasn't too much to worry about.

_Boom!_

Ranmaru wasn't in any immediate danger but he quickly switched with a projection as soon as he felt the explosion going off some ways ahead of him.

He took a deep breath to calm his mind and immediately activated the spirit field.

_Explosive tag on the rock twelve meters away on the left, a trap seal set to release weapons one meter to the right, enemies blocking off my escape back to the Wave Country_.

Sai must have convinced his team to try to chase Kokuten towards the Land of Fire where they had more options to use. In Wave Country, the Konoha squad couldn't use too much force for fear of scaring the citizens and damaging the landscape too much.

It was also likely that they thought that Kokuten was wary of entering into one of the big nations.

_Wait, no…_ he thought as he activated his eyes to improve his awareness. _There's a sealing array on the ground. I can see the chakra running through it. I'm not all that skilled in fuinjutsu, but that's definitely some sort of barrier seal. _He focused a bit more. _It looks like all the traps are set to draw me into that area. _

The only person with knowledge of fuinjutsu on the ANBU squad was Sai.

Sai must have gone all out with his seals because he knew that Ranmaru would be able to see through them all. If Sai didn't put in such effort, his teammates would doubt him. Ranmaru couldn't count on Sai to bail him out of this situation. Sai had to maintain his cover at all costs.

Ranmaru ducked under windmill shuriken that one of the ANBU operatives threw and then twisted his body to dodge the stream of snakes that flew towards him.

He quickly took out his staff.

"Chidori Current!" Ranmaru shouted, dissipating the ink ropes that had bound him. Sai must have used that particular technique to get him to use that specific technique. Technically, his electricity was tinged the Raikiri blue and not the Chidori yellow like Sasuke's but he doubted that his enemies would notice the difference in the heat of the battle. Ninjas, while cautious and observant, were just as susceptible to being tricked by their own biases as any normal person. It was something that Ranmaru had learned from his sensei. They suspected that Kokuten was Sasuke and were looking for information that confirmed that belief.

Ranmaru flipped back towards the bridge and land in a defensive position. There were no traps on the bridge, as the Konoha squad wouldn't dare damaging the lifeblood of another country.

"That technique!" The man with the raven mask exclaimed as all four operatives landed a few meters away from the bridge. "It's definitely Sasuke Uchiha!"

Ranmaru would have snorted at the show of emotion. ANBU operatives were supposed to be efficient, deadly, but most of all, unemotional. Yet, this man was openly showing his shock. He must have been a new recruit.

The yin user swept the Star Staff in a semi-circle in front of him. "Chidori Senbon!"

The four easily jumped back to dodge the electric needles.

Ranmaru was tempted to flood the area with his illusions as was his habit, but the goal was to fool the squad into thinking that he was Sasuke. He needed to be judicious about how he used his best techniques. If it were any other squad, Ranmaru would take off at this point, but this squad had the famous Shikamaru Nara on it.

There was no way that Nara was going to think he was Sasuke from just those two techniques. He had to act a bit more. Chidori variants; check. Next up was the Sharingan.

Ranmaru grabbed his staff like a sword and covered it in lightning chakra and charged forward.

His spirit field gave him incredible awareness and it was almost as if he was taking a light walk in the part as he weaved in and out between all the different attacks. He made sure to move as a Sharingan user, making sure to never get hit or acting surprised by any one attack. He didn't know too much about the Uchiha's taijutsu, but he did know how to do one thing that the Uchiha were famous for.

Using a ki feint to land right in front of the operative with the raven mask, Ranmaki jumped and kicked the man's mask off and put the man in a genjutsu. The mask that Ranmaru wore as Kokuten prevented anyone from seeing his eyes, but it wouldn't take much to assume that Kokuten kicked off Raven's mask in order to make eye contact from behind his mask.

Ranmaru inserted a subtle genjutsu into the man's mind to convince him that he saw the tomoe of the Sharingan.

Sharingan; check. He briefly wondered if he should risk using massive illusions of the Susanoo or Amaterasu techniques. Those would all but confirm that he was Sasuke, but such large illusory constructs were also easier to break.

Suddenly, his vision was completely clouded by the shadows that rose up around him.

_Ah, I see. They're trying to limit what my "Sharingan" can do. _

Except Ranmaru's eyes were _not_ the Sharingan. His eye techniques easily pierced the shadows. Furthermore, he had the spirit field telling him where everything was. The shadows were not even a minor inconvenience. Ranmaru immediately cut through the three snakes heading towards him and used another ki feint to land right behind the person who sent them out. He slashed with his lighting blade at the woman with the kappa mask before she could react.

"ARG!"

He quickly tagged her with a Reverse Dispersion Seal to prevent the woman from being able to use chakra again. She was injured, but the injury hadn't been severe enough to take him out of the fight completely. With the Reverse Dispersion Seal, she would no longer be a factor.

Ranmaru quickly made a ki projection once he noticed that he couldn't move—the shadows were binding him—and transferred himself to it while letting his original body fade away into an illusion.

"That's two down," he said in the garbled voice of Kokuten as he put some distance between himself and the two other operatives.

They were beginning to figure out his fighting patterns and he couldn't risk being exposed as someone other than Sasuke Uchiha. Whether he convinced the Nara or not was a moot point. He was only lasting this long because of his yin techniques. He needed to run soon or risk capture.

Ranmaru pointed his lightning blade/staff towards the other two. "Neither are dead, but next time, I won't hesitate to kill you. I want answers. Why have you destroyed my base and called me out in this infantile manner?" He gestured towards the note that was still where he had thrown it down.

The one with the dragon mask, presumably Shikamaru, stepped forward. "It has come to our attention that you have taken actions against our village."

Ranmaru chuckled. "Do the actions include attacking those two pieces of trash?" Ranmaru pointed at the two other operatives who were now unconscious on the ground. "I consider that self-defense. After all, you provoked and attacked me first."

"You attacked one of our advance squads that we had sent into the Land of Hot Water. You have destroyed several of our outposts at our borders. You have cut off our supply lines to and from other countries," Dragon listed out.

"And?" Ranmaru said in an offhand voice. "Shall I list the wrongs that Konoha has done over the years?"

"Irrelevant, we're the ones asking the questions."

He scoffed at that answer and decided to say something Sasuke might say. "Oh really? For example, what is your opinion on the truth about the Uchiha—"

Ranmaru flipped back and covered himself with the Raikiri Current as shadows rose up around him again. He cut through the first eight tendrils, jumped over the next two, and ducked under three more before getting annoyed.

He swept the area around him with his staff. "Fire Release: Flame Eruption," he chanted.

A pillar of red flame erupted from the ground and burned away all the shadows and all the nearby traps that he had carefully been avoiding.

"Collaboration Technique: Muddy Water!"

Ranmaru cursed as his fire technique was easily overwhelmed by the mixed water and earth technique from Sai and Shikamaru.

He switched with yet another projection to escape quickly as two ink tigers, bit down on his—now his illusion's—arms.

Flipping backwards on the bridge, he kept knocking back various projectiles thrown at him and ran towards the Land of Fire as the two remaining squad members tended to their fallen comrades.

* * *

**Hokage's Office, Konoha – April 15, AK 22**

"Mission aborted," Dragon said wearily.

"At least you came back alive," Kakashi told the squad. "That in itself is a miracle. Sasuke's not the type to escape a battle like he did. There must have been something on his mind. In any case, did all of you place the seals that I gave you on your mask?"

Dragon nodded. "Yes, what were they for anyway?"

Kakashi gave him an eye-smile. "It's a new seal that I invented to foster better communication. It'll help you in relaying how the battle went. Here, watch. I'll perform a modified version of the Third's Telescope Technique so we can get a visual." Kakashi held out his orb and then placed his hand on the large screen that Shizune had brought in. "All four of you place your hands on here so we can get as complete of a view as possible. Think of battle and this technique will collect your memories on that."

"Sure," Dragon walked up and placed his hand on the crystal ball.

Kakashi nodded at the other three—Phoenix, Kappa, and Raven—to do the same, although Phoenix appeared to pause for a moment before he complied. After they were done, Kakashi pulled his free hand into a hand sign.

"Memory Telescopic Technique!"

The seals on their masks activated and glowed the same color as the crystal ball.

After a few seconds, the orb and the screen glow together and the entire battle was up on the screen.

Ignoring the awed whispers, Kakashi watched the entire battle, shown in four different points of view. He gaped when he saw the Chidori variants come up.

"That was where we had visual confirmation that it _was_ the Uchiha prick," Kappa muttered. "Lord Hokage, did you have to teach him that annoying technique? He's become even more of a pain with it than you were."

Kakashi ignored the jab. He didn't have time for Kappa's jokes right now. He replayed the scene and saw the masked man scream out Chidori Current. However, the technique the man use _wasn't_ a Chidori technique. It was a _Raikiri _variant.

"There's something wrong here," Kakashi murmured, more to himself than anyone else.

"What is it?" Dragon asked urgently. "Did you figure out something from just that?"

"This technique that he used. That's not a true Chidori variant."

"What do you mean? Can't you hear it? You can hear the chirping sound!" Raven exclaimed. "It looks exactly like your technique!"

Kakashi shook his head. "That's exactly the point. It looks too much like my Raikiri. A few years after I developed the Chidori, I improved upon it even further. It's the blue lightning that was eventually labeled as _Raikiri_. Sasuke, however, was never able to manage the Raikiri. He was never a power fighter until much later when he developed his Mangekyo Sharingan. When I taught him that technique, he was still a genin and more of a finesse type of fighter. The Raikiri involves compressing the chakra five-fold beyond that of the Chidori. That's how the lightning turns blue."

"Maybe Sasuke learned it on his own. The hand signs are the same, after all," Phoenix commented. "And as you mentioned, Sasuke did eventually become a power type."

"It's possible," Kakashi acknowledged. "It looks far too much like my actual Raikiri, however. I'm not sure Sasuke would have been able to replicate to that degree."

"Chidori. Raikiri. Does it matter all that much? It's not like anyone else can make something similar to your techniques," Dragon inquired.

"I suppose you're right," Kakashi admitted. "Those techniques involve my own special brand of body activation too, which no one else in the world besides Sasuke was able to fully master. The Raikage would be able to do it of course, but I think he has a bit more pride than to try and reverse engineer the _Hokage's_ techniques."

"There were other things that made it likely that it was Uchiha, Lord Hokage," Raven gestured. "Look, you can see him able to predict all our techniques and dodge with minimal effort. He also put me in an ocular genjutsu after he kicked my mask off right there," he pointed at one of the four points of views where the sky was now showing, "There's no other reason why he would do that unless he was using the Sharingan. It has to be Sasuke Uchiha."

Kakashi crossed his arms. What Raven said did make sense. The masked man made a deliberate effort to kick off Raven's mask. And there was no other bloodline that gave anyone the predictive ability that the masked man was currently showing. If it were Sasuke, then his predictive ability was now more advanced that what it had been five or six years ago. It almost seemed like he was omniscient.

Dragon asked him to rewind. "Aside from that, there were other questions, too. Look, there!" He pointed. "He's capable of such high speed movement that he can create afterimages. Right there was when I thought I caught him with my shadow."

"And that fire technique there," Kappa added. "It's not quite the black flames of Amaterasu, but it's still a strong fire technique."

Kakashi nodded. "He must have been trying to conserve energy for some reason. It might be tied to why he escaped."

"This just leaves us with even more questions," Dragon muttered. "I still don't understand why he just tagged one of us with those damn seals and then ran. He probably could have finished us off. We thought we caught _him_ in a trap, but he was able to bypass everything."

"Speaking of which," Kakashi asked. "I barely saw any traps being sprung. What traps did you set up?"

"Multiple barrier seals," Phoenix replied. "And one level-9 zodiac seal. If Uchiha were to land at these points," Phoenix pointed at various areas on the screen, "he would have been trapped inside an unbreakable chakra barrier that has the ability to stop even space-time ninjutsu."

Kakashi looked at the other sealing elite. "A zodiac seal?" he gasped in surprise. "When did you have the time to actually set that up? You also need twelve people to hold the barrier in place. Only a master could hold a zodiac seal alone."

Phoenix pulled out several paper tags. "I carry around pre-prepared self-sustaining tags. Obviously, the barrier won't last more than ten minutes with these paper seals instead of twelve sealing experts, that should have been more than enough time drain him of his energy."

Kakashi looked carefully at the designs that Dragon was showing him of the layout of their traps and saw signs of multiple chakra draining seals drawn on the ground. "Almost all the traps were designed to get him into this one area. Yet how did he escape _all_ of these traps? This is ridiculous."

"The Sharingan _can_ see the color of chakra," Kappa offered. "Maybe—"

"No, I know," Kakashi interrupted, "but with everything going around him, he shouldn't have been able to focus too much on the ground. It's almost as if he already knew where everything was before walking onto the area. On top of that, it's strange that Sasuke ran away. He _never_ runs away. Things are just getting more confusing. It's almost certain that it is Sasuke, but there are a lot of questions I want to ask."

There was silence at that.

And it wasn't good news at all. Sasuke, or whoever the man was, hadn't even shown the tremendous power that was reported by Team Hanabi. If what they were saying was true, then Sasuke was even more skilled than they had imagined. He was stronger than any S-rank known in the Elemental Nations.

This didn't bode well for any of them.

"As of now, all operatives from foreign lands will be recalled. We can't risk any of them running into Sasuke. He seems loath to operate inside of the Land of Fire, so we'll use that to our advantage for now."

"But Sixth, that will tank our economy! You can't be serious about this."

Kakashi shook his head. "It'll only be for a few weeks. We'll just have to buy time until Naruto gets back. I'm going to send him out the minute he gets back. He's our ace after all. All of you except Dragon, dismissed! Shizune!" he called out as the three ninjas walked out, "Call Ibiki for me!"

"You sure this is a good idea?"

"What other choice do we have?" the Hokage said in a regretful tone. "I rather not risk lives by recklessly sending them out. We almost lost a former heiress to the most prestigious clan in the village."

"They could have been in the wrong place at the wrong time," Dragon insisted. "We'll be making a lot of people suffer from the economic shock. Crime rates will go up and people at home may die as well."

"It's only for two or three weeks. I think you're overstating the economic damage, Dragon."

"Kakashi, a lot of the civilians live from paycheck to paycheck. You're understating the damage here. Furthermore, the clan heads aren't going to be happy once they hear of this."

Kakashi resisted the urge to curse in frustration. While Konoha was different in that the government had plenty of checks and balances, it also made it difficult for the Hokage to do what was necessary, especially if the necessary actions were painful.

He sighed. He never should have agreed on becoming Hokage.

"We have an emergency fund that we can dip into," Kakashi finally decided. "We'll set up a safety net for those in need of money. That should get us through the next few weeks."

"Naruto again, huh?" Dragon murmured while shaking his head.

"Hm?"

"We were only able to set that up because Naruto was taking a ridiculously high number of dangerous missions."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Your point?"

"We're too dependent on Naruto, Kakashi. Right now, you're throwing the village into potential chaos because you don't think we can take care of this problem without Naruto. You're justifying that action and supporting that action with safety nets that Naruto set up. We can't keep using Naruto as our means to solve every single problem."

"What would you have me do?" Kakashi said a bit heatedly as he stood up. "The problem is that we _can't_ do anything without Naruto. I could send out Gai to face Sasuke and the only thing we would get out of that is his body returned to us in a bag. Gai _might_ be able to beat Sasuke with all eight of his Inner Gates open, but that still wouldn't change the fact that he'll come back dead."

"People die, Kakashi. You know that," Dragon argued. "We all know that. It's what we signed up for. I know that you're haunted by your own past and don't want anyone to suffer the same thing, but you can't realistically hope for a near zero percent casualty rate." Dragon shook his head. "And that's not my point. I'm not blaming you. I'm blaming the village system."

"What do you mean?" Kakashi sat back down wearily. After half a decade as the leader of Konoha, he could finally understand why the Third was always mentally exhausted.

"We always revere our past and current heroes. We build heroes up as legends that will succeed above all. That belief has seeped into our way of life. At the first sign of trouble, we immediately look to our heroes to bail us out. In the past, my father told me that when the Kyuubi attacked, the first thing everyone did was to ask where the Fourth was. When Orochimaru attacked, we immediately look to the Third to bail us out. During Pain's invasion, we were all shouting for Naruto to save us. It was the same in the Fourth War when we looked to the kages and resurrected Hokages to fight for us. We've stopped taking care of our own problems. The next generation is supposed to surpass the previous generation, but can you really say that that is what's happening?"

Kakashi thought about that. What Dragon said was right. While there were more ninjas in the forces than in the past, there were fewer elites. The strongest of all the kages were all past kages. None of the current ones could hold a candle to the masters of the past.

He decided to think about it later. He needed to focus on the immediate problems.

"Dragon, look. I understand what you're saying but we really need to focus on short-term problems right now."

Dragon sighed and nodded. "Agreed. I'm assuming that you wanted to discuss our thought about the conspiracy in the Hyuuga clan."

Kakashi nodded. "We're just waiting for Ibiki to drop by."

As if on cuee, the door opened.

"Lord Hokage," he turned to see Ibiki, who had just walked in. "I'm here. I see that Dragon is back."

"Yes, Kakashi and I wanted to discuss your thoughts on something."

"From your memo, I'm guessing that you're suspecting a conspiracy within the Hyuuga clan?"

"That's what we're worried about," Dragon explained. "No matter how you look at it, none of this makes sense. Naruto and Hanabi never had contact before."

"Frankly, Dragon, much of my work is involved in counterespionage against other _villages_ not problems within the village," Ibiki said with a frown. "There is work being done against spies in the village but there's no way we can simply infiltrate a clan."

"We're not asking you to, Ibiki. We're just trying to pool whatever intelligence we have. The story goes like this: We received requests asking for Naruto to be married to heads of two separate countries. I then promised Hiashi to help him try to sucker Naruto into marrying Hinata so that Naruto wouldn't have the headache of being involved with another village and well to help him receive some love for a change. Kami knows that the girl loved him a lot and that Naruto needed something different than what Sakura gave him."

Kakashi never approved of his two loyal students dating. To him, it felt like Sakura was trying to keep some piece of her past alive by being with Naruto. To have him continually shower her with attention probably reminded her of the time when they were Team Seven.

Sakura had never come to terms with the fact that Team Seven would never be complete again.

"And Naruto refuses, which was expected, but he then asks for Hanabi, a girl he never really met before. There were a lot of other girl he could have asked for if not Hinata," Dragon finished.

Kakashi added, "It's just strange that he could be so agreeable to something we knew he would hate. On top of that, the Hyuuga girl accepted without a thought as well. You would think that the two were secret lovers all this time."

Ibiki frowned. "So you're assuming that the Hyuuga clan somehow put an unbreakable genjutsu on Uzumaki?"

"Yes, or something similar to manipulate him in a subtle way. Naruto is too loyal for a bribe or anything like that," Dragon said. "At this time, we're thinking of fuinjutsu. After all, the Hyuuga clan has the Caged Bird Seal to control their own clan members and is skilling in the sealing arts. It wouldn't too much of a stretch to think that they had a seal that could subtly alter thoughts and actions. If we want to extend this conspiracy even further, than we would argue that members of the Hyuuga clan were the ones to attempt to kill Sakura."

Ibiki was one of the ones who had the security clearance to know about Sakura. Kakashi wasn't too excited about letting more people into the fold, but Ibiki was their best bet at trying to figure out who the culprit was.

"Ah yes, that Haruno girl."

"The only thing that links everything together is fuinjutsu. Fuinjutsu was used to put Sakura out of commission. Fuinjutsu was used to create that marriage contract that Hanabi was able to sign. We believe that _if_ there is a conspiracy, fuinjutsu may have been used to manipulate Naruto," Kakashi remarked.

"I'm not too sure," Ibiki grunted. "You said Uzumaki requested _Hanabi_, right? Not the _second-born princess_ of the Hyuuga clan?"

Kakashi frowned as he remembered the meeting. "You're right. He called Hanabi by her first name."

"Then that means he's familiar with her. I know the kid's a punk, but he's polite when he needs to be. He wouldn't be throwing out names of people like that unless he met them at least once before. I doubt any subtle seal manipulating Uzumaki would cause him to go out of character to that degree. Nor would the Hyuuga clan want someone to refer to one of their princesses by her first name in the general assembly without some sort of honorific or title."

"So we're back to the secret lovers theory again?"

"Yes, as far as anything concrete goes. My counterespionage operatives, who pose as civilians in the village, have seen the former Hyuuga heiress sneaking out at night during the last three months. Now, since they didn't want to be caught, they couldn't follow her. We initially just thought that she was out trying to do some late-night training, but in hindsight, it may be possible that she was seeing Uzumaki in secret late at night."

"How late are we talking about?"

"Midnight, or even later."

Kakashi whistled. "Whatever she was doing, she definitely did not want anyone finding out."

Ibiki nodded. "That would be something she would want if she was sneaking into his mansion to spend part of the night with him. Think about it. Her sister was in love with Uzumaki. Her own clan was notorious for not liking Uzumaki because of his brashness and lack of respect for tradition. So it would make sense that she would see him only when there was no one else was around to see it."

Dragon interrupted. "And that would be somewhat consistent with what Ino told us. Ino said that Naruto knew that Sakura was still alive. If Naruto had started seeing another girl, it would make sense that he wouldn't threaten village security to demand Sakura's status be revealed to the public. Kakashi, perhaps we _have_ been overthinking this."

Kakashi still felt uncertain about the issue. Naruto wasn't one to simply abandon his love for Sakura like that. There was something he was missing here.

"But that doesn't rule out a conspiracy either. We really don't have fuinjutsu masters in Konoha anymore so we don't exactly know the limits of the sealing arts. We have elites and experts who all specialize in a specific subcategory of fuinjutsu but no true masters. The Hyuuga have multiple elites who deal with mental manipulation and emotional control. So they really might have found a way to subtly control Naruto's feelings and thoughts. In fact, if Hanabi was really seeing him, she may have been the one to put the seal or seals on him as well."

"Sixth," Ibiki said after slapping his hand on his forehead, "are you listening to yourself right now? Why would they risk their stronger heiress to go after Uzumaki in that manner when their weaker heiress already loves him? She would have been the perfect candidate to use to get to him. She's expendable and no one would even think anything of it if they saw her near him." Kakashi was about to open his mouth to say that Hinata would never do such a thing, but Ibiki ignored him and continued. "I know that you might say that the first heiress would never do it, but if they _had_ such a seal they could use to manipulate people, then you can be sure they would have used it on her first. Sorry Kakashi, but I'm just not seeing concrete evidence or motivation."

Dragon decided to step in at this point. "Well, we considered this: the Hyuuga clan would slip their strongest heir in a few generations into the seat right next to the Hokage and would either manipulate him or assassinate him. Let's agree for now that manipulation, at least one that doesn't take away free will, isn't too much of a problem, considering that there is some influence inherent in a marriage. In fact, we too were trying to manipulate Hiashi into agreeing to some of our future proposals by using his greed for the seat of Hokage. We were initially more worried about assassination."

"The Hyuuga would assassinate the Hokage and have the wife act as interim leader for some time while an investigation was going on. They would slip many proposals favorable to them by during that time," Ibiki murmured to himself. "Thus that would be the motivation."

"That's what we thought."

Ibiki shook his head. "Doesn't sound feasible to me. I don't think the Hyuuga clan elders are foolish or desperate. That isn't a good enough motivation, Dragon. The positives of having an interim leader for about six months are minimal and the costs of pulling this out are insanely high. All of the clan elders would have to be crazy to gamble like that," Ibiki argued. "Think about what the Hyuuga have to gain if they sit down and just be patient. Uzumaki's brat will have the blood of four different Hokages running through his veins. It will be the blood of _five_ once Uzumaki becomes Hokage. It's likely that his brat will end up becoming Hokage as well. And all the Hyuuga need to do is just sit around. If anything, I'd be worried about a plot the other way around."

"You mean a plot from Naruto?" Kakashi asked curtly.

Ibiki nodded. "Kakashi, don't take offense at this, but I'm supposed to be highly suspicious of everyone. You yourself said it is strange that Uzumaki, who was so deeply in love with that Haruno girl, to go out of his way to _request_ another girl? We're currently ignoring the possibly of fuinjutsu given our prior conclusions so let's assume that he's not under the effects of a mind-controlling seal. Genjutsu wouldn't be an option because a person casting it wouldn't be so stupid as to make him so out of character to make him abandon a person he loves. And let's not forget the fact that most genjutsu techniques are almost completely useless on him once he actives his Kyuubi Mode. Any genjutsu user would have had to count on Uzumaki not using Kyuubi Mode for weeks or even months which would be stupid considering that he regularly takes S-rank missions. It's impossible for anyone to control him."

"So what are you saying?" Kakashi said carefully.

Ibiki had to know that he was treading on hot water here. Kakashi made it clear that he didn't like it when people gave Naruto a hard time. Naruto may be unintelligent at times, but disloyal he was not.

"I'm saying that if I had to come up with a conspiracy it would be that Naruto is playing us all by acting like an idiot. This would be a brilliant move on his part. He strengthens his own clan by marrying the strongest kunoichi around his age and ensures that his offspring will be force to deal with by having a mix of two incredibly strong bloodlines. With the same move, he weakens the strongest clan in Konoha and a clan that has always disliked him for years. It even goes further still because he plants one of his supporters—the first heiress who loves him—into the head seat of that very same clan. Naruto does all of this to ensure a permanent line of Hokages from his family and set up a dynasty."

"There are other strong bloodlines in Konoha," Kakashi remarked. "He didn't have to specifically choose the Hyuuga bloodline."

"Oh? Which ones?" Ibiki said sarcastically. "The Kurama are physically weak and any offspring there would only detract from the vitality of the Uzumaki bloodline. The Nara, Akimichi, Hagoromo, Sarutobi, and Yamanaka all have hidden techniques, not bloodlines. And would _you_ want your children to be rolling around in the mud like the Inuzuka or teeming with insects like the Aburame? As far as bloodlines go, Konoha has lost its place as the haven of special people once the Senju and Uchiha died out. If I were Uzumaki, I would see that power vacuum and be looking at a chance to make my clan, one with a bloodline strong enough to rival the Senju's physical strength, one of the leading clans of the village for years to come."

"But Naruto doesn't think that way. He has no interest in power."

"Right. That's why I said _if I were so inclined_ _to come up with a conspiracy theory_. I've had my eyes on that kid ever since he was a genin. The kid is much smarter than people give him credit for. But I agree. Uzumaki doesn't seem like the type. It's just that I don't think the Hyuuga clan would be so crazy as to betray the village like that. They're nothing like how the Uchiha clan once was."

"Then what about Sakura?" Kakashi asked, "We know for sure that it was an attack, a fuinjutsu attacking the brain, something that the Hyuuga are good at, as we already agreed."

"Well," Ibiki said with a frown, "that one I can believe. Parts of the sealing array that we've uncovered in Haruno's mind appear similar to the Caged Bird Seal. The experts and elites, however, I talked to seem to be in agreement that the common symbols on both are because they each are placed on the brain rather than any special connection between the two. But still, I can see how the Hyuuga clan would want to remove Haruno to get their shot at placing their heiress next to Uzumaki. There's motivation, but hardly evidence. Don't let your emotions get in the way of rational thinking, Kakashi. The Hyuuga elders are assholes, but that hardly makes them traitors."

Kakashi paused at that. As Dragon said, it may very well be that they were overthinking this issue. Heavens knew that he was overworked and stressed out. He really needed to take a vacation.

"Thanks Ibiki," Dragon nodded. "We're still somewhat suspicious of the Hyuuga clan, but what you said is enough to give us pause to consider other possibilities."

* * *

**Konoha General Assembly, Konoha – ****April 15, AK 22**

Kakashi wanted to bang his head on his table. _Again_. It seemed that the job of being Hokage was way more trouble than it was worth.

It was the fifteenth of the month, which meant a general assembly among the clan heads and the other elected council members.

"Preposterous!" Chouza Akimichi shouted. "There's no way the Akimichi clan would allow such a thing in Konoha! We swallowed our pride when the Second offered the Uchiha clan the sole jurisdiction of a domestic police force independent of the Hokage, but we will not stand for another clan to receive such blatant favoritism!"

"Lord Akimichi, perhaps you haven't seen what is going on in our village today. Despite the outward appearance of strength, we are barely keeping everything together," Hiashi Hyuuga explained smoothly. "We need to find a way to relieve the pressure from our conventional forces."

"I agree," Shibi Aburame consented in a neutral tone, "While our forces have grown in the last six years to beyond what they were before the Fourth Shinobi World War, the economies of the countries in the Elemental Nations have only grown more. While the ninja villages took a drastic hit, the countries did not. The demand for ninja services only continued to grow during a time when half our forces were dead or out of commission. We are still short on manpower relative to the demand around us."

"I agree as well, but I would like to know why we should not continue using ANBU as we have done in the past?" Reina Hagoromo murmured. "While ANBU doesn't have a specific division for policing the general public, ANBU operatives have maintained the peace within the village after the untimely demise of the Uchiha clan."

"ANBU may be a specialized force, but all ANBU operatives are still part of the conventional forces," Kaien Tsuchigumo responded.

"Indeed," Hiashi agreed, "that was the purpose of my proposal. Crime rates within Konoha are at an all-time low. I believe the ANBU operatives currently patrolling the village streets are better off out in the field. We can sufficiently enforce peace using our reserves. It will keep our reserves trained and in shape as well."

"No one disagrees with you, Lord Hyuuga," Tsume Inuzuka replied. "We just don't trust _your_ motivation."

"My motivation?" Hiashi frowned before clenching his fists for a few seconds. "How dare you?" Hiashi said in a soft yet frigid voice. "You are accusing my clan of treason. My clan has split more blood than all of yours combined during the Fourth War," Hiashi said in that same dangerous tone. "Don't you _dare_ question where our loyalties lie!"

"We're not accusing anyone of treason," Unkai Kurama responded calmly, "but you're proposing that the Hyuuga clan be given special powers within the village. No matter how you look at this, you must admit that this appears like a power grab."

"But at the same time, what better clan is there to police the village?" Gendo Shimura asked out loud. "The Byakugan would even be better than the Sharingan in rooting out domestic criminals. In my opinion, the Hyuuga clan should have been given jurisdiction of the Konoha Military Police in the first place."

Kakashi felt that he had enough of this. He was tired of listening to the same talking points over and over again. The vote was a tie. Akimichi, Nara, Yamanaka, Inuzuka, and Kurama were against while Shimura, Hagoromo, Tsuchigumo, Hyuuga, and Aburame were for reviving the Konoha Military Police. The Sarutobi abstained, most likely to avoid offending their Akimichi, Nara, and Yamanaka allies, even if they supported the proposal, and since Naruto was absent, the Uzumaki clan also abstained.

Kakashi technically had the tie-breaking vote, but he generally liked to have consensus on motions. A good Hokage always had the consent of the governed.

Even though Hiashi was not causing nearly as many headaches in the general assembly as he did in the past before Hanabi married Naruto, Hiashi still brought a ton of grief. Fortunately, Hiashi was nowhere near the dangerous man that Danzo was. It was only that Hiashi simply thought the Hyuuga could serve the village better than any other clan.

Konoha put economics and civilian welfare ahead of anything else, including military operations. Hiashi constantly tried to shift more resources to the military side—albeit for defensive purposes, unlike Danzo who supported a expansionary militaristic approach—saying that Konoha needed to be able to protect itself. Kakashi wondered if it was arrogance or difference in philosophy. Simple arrogance they could all deal with, but if Hiashi had a different and dangerous type of philosophical belief on how a village should be run, then there could be a problem. They did not need a variant of Danzo.

"Lord Hiashi," Kakashi calmly explained, "As happy as I am that you're looking out for my best interests and while it is true that ANBU is overstretched, it isn't a good idea to give one clan sole jurisdiction of the Konoha Military Police. How about a compromise?"

Hiashi looked intrigued. "Yes?"

"I will agree to a Konoha Military Police," Kakashi said, raising his hand to silence the protest from the opposition. "However, I will not give the Hyuuga clan sole jurisdiction over such an independent military force."

There was silence at that. Everyone had assumed that one clan would be given the role of managing the independent department. Now that the Hokage was proposing spreading the power around, there were whispers among all the clan heads with the two confidants they were allowed to bring with them from their clans.

"Lord Hokage, how necessary is this?" Chouza asked curiously. "The Akimichi clan wouldn't be completely opposed to the plan if there was justification for it. Just how short are we on manpower?"

Shikamaru decided to speak up. "I have the fortune of working in the Hokage's office and have seen the records. It is…" Shikamaru paused for a while here, "understandable that Lord Hyuuga would bring this proposal up. Lord Uzumaki, who is also his son-in-law, had to go on thirty-eight consecutive S-rank missions—most of them solo—In the last two years alone because of our situation. With Lord Uzumaki taking up the bulk of the most difficult missions, Lord Hokage was able to assign ninjas to other easier missions. However, Lord Uzumaki has finally decided to exercise his right to demand all his vacation days. Furthermore, he has been assigned to be a jounin instructor. The missions he would have taken will now fall on many of our other ninjas."

"_Thirty-eight_?" The Unkai asked in disbelief.

"_Solo_?" Reina said with wide eyes. "That's…that's…"

"That's…that's ridiculous!" the Chouza finished for her. "How is Lord Uzumaki not insane yet?"

"Some would say that he _is_ insane. The pranks, the ramen, and God knows what else," Kakashi muttered before a round of chuckles were heard.

"What about some of our other S-rank caliber ninjas? Can they not pick up the slack?" Inoichi's wife asked.

Kakashi groaned before realizing that the woman was only a chuunin before she retired. She probably wouldn't know too much about the active ninjas or how the ranking system was set.

"We have two other S-ranks in our village: myself and Gai. Three if you count Temari Nara," Kakashi murmured. "Gai had been running high-rank missions as well. He's not quite on the level of Naruto, but Gai has soloed five in the last two years. I myself cannot leave the village without good reason. Temari Nara is an S-rank as well, but while she is loyal, she can't be given such dangerous missions because of what it would do to our relationship with Suna in case of an accident."

He didn't say that Temari was too connected to Suna and couldn't be given sensitive mission out loud because he didn't want to offend Shikamaru, but the message was there underneath the surface.

"What about our A—"

Kakashi cut the person off to explain further. "When I said that Gai soloed five missions, this was, of course, in addition to the other A-rank and S-rank missions that Gai performed within a squad. As for Naruto, he soloed most of his missions. I should remind you that even soloing _one_ S-rank mission is an amazing feat that had only first been done by each of the legendary Sannin. Even the Third did not attempt to solo an S-rank until the Second Shinobi World War when he had absolutely no choice." He turned to Hiashi again. "So I do understand where this proposal is coming from. Once again, I would like to reiterate that I understand your position and thank you for your concern. But it is true that the opposition raised fair points as well. It would be unwise to give one clan too much power within the village."

Kakashi carefully observed the Hyuuga clan head and noted Shikamaru doing the same when the Hyuuga clan head appeared to be reluctant. There still was something very strange about how Hanabi and Naruto ended up together. He and Shikamaru were still keeping their eyes opened for any possible conspiracy by the Hyuuga clan. He felt incredibly guilty at suspecting those in his village of treason, but that was one of the jobs of the Hokage.

"Very well," Hiashi finally said. "I will lend my support this amendment."

"Good!" Kakashi said in a light but cheerful tone. "Now let's vote!"

As expected, the motion passed with near unanimity.

Once it became obvious that the power would be shared, each of the clans wanted a part of the pie. In the end, it was agreed that the council itself would appoint the chief of the Military Police once every year and that the chief would directly report to the general assembly once every month during the meetings. To appease Hiashi, it was agreed that he would be the first chief of the revived Military Police.

Kakashi groaned when he saw someone stand up to bring yet _another_ proposal to the table.

"Ahem," one of the civilian representatives said. Kakashi noted that there was another civilian representative who was seconding the motion. "We have something we would like to bring up on behalf of Konoha's Fourth and Seventh Districts."

There were twelve districts in Konoha to match the twelve noble clans. Normally, the civilians didn't talk much since most of the matters discussed involved ninjas and didn't have official voting power, but they still represented the civilians and were an important part of the legislative process.

Kakashi turned his attention to the man. "Yes?"

"First, we wanted to bring up the matter about the rumors around the town."

"Rumors?"

"There has been talk of a command that was sent out earlier today. Is it true that Konoha is no longer taking mission requests from foreign countries?"

Kakashi sighed. He had hoped to avoid this at _this_ meeting, but it seemed like the civilians got word as well. The ninjas understood that emergencies were needed and Shikamaru had a notice sent out to all the clan heads explaining the situation to appease them. But the civilians often saw the world through rosy glasses.

"Yes, it is true."

As expected, there was uproar from the civilian side. Even some of the clan heads let their displeasure show.

"This is ridiculous! You are willing to destroy our economy?! What could possibly be so important that—"

Kakashi let out a bit of killing intent to subtly make everyone in the room sweat. Unlike the Third, he was willing to use force to get what he wanted. And he would _never_ take disrespect lying down.

"An S-rank missing ninja slaughtering our ninjas in foreign lands isn't a good enough reason for you?" There was a deadly silence after that. "To you greedy _pigs_," Kakashi spat out the word, "the lives of ninjas may be meaningless as long as your businesses run properly, but to many of us, ninjas are our sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, fathers, and mothers. I prioritize saving lives of my villagers."

"Who is this missing ninja?"

"Classified," Kakashi replied curtly. "But according to our reports, he is so strong that even _Naruto_ might lose against him." There was another pause at that. The thought of their strongest ninja since the First Hokage losing in battle was sobering. "Now then, is there any _serious_ proposals or concerns?"

(AN: All the Hokages were the greatest at something. First Hokage = strongest, Second Hokage = the best water user/fastest at the time, Third Hokage = most knowledgeable, Fourth Hokage = fastest, Fifth Hokage = the greatest medic, Sixth Hokage = most number of ninjutsu)

No one wanted to talk after that but another civilian representative slowly stood up after mustering up her courage.

"We wanted to talk about the Clan Preservation Act. Lord Hashirama Senju put this clause in to protect clans from becoming extinct. Furthermore, it is common amongst nobility to take more than one wife. Lord Uzumaki is the last of a clan and is also a noble. We civilians wish to have the opportunity to offer our daughters to Lord Uzumaki."

Kakashi mentally groaned as he shelved any thought about the masked man and the Hyuuga clan away in a corner of his mind. Everyone in the village was treating Naruto like a golden ticket to prosperity. Even though it was rather annoying, Kakashi didn't blame any of them. Naruto was the legendary Golden Sun of Konoha, one of the strongest ninjas in Konoha's history. Pride, dignity, none of that mattered when it came to vying from trying to get some kind of political advantage. Many of the villagers had done the same when Sasuke was young and in the village as well.

It was going to be a rather long night.

Even when out of the village and away, his student found a way of giving him grief.

_Damn you, Naruto. You're always the source of my problems._

* * *

**Konoha War Room, Konoha – April 16, AK 22**

"Shizune, if you will."

"Yes, sir," she answered dutifully. Konohamaru looked at the Hokage with curiosity as Shizune handed out folders to the twelve people in the room before sitting down in her own seat.

It was the unofficial mission control of Konoha, an elite group made up of the Hokage (Hatake), ANBU Commander (Dragon), Jounin Commander who was also the head of the Combat & Tactics department (Yamato), and the heads of the various departments in Konoha's military including Intelligence (Morino), Communications (Ino), Border Patrol (Gai), Research & Development (Uzuki), and Supply & Relief (Shizune). The others—himself, Kanden, Lee, Sai, Shirakumo, and Mitarashi—were either senior commanders in the normal forces or vice-heads of the aforementioned departments. With the exception of Naruto and Hanabi (who were on a honeymoon) and Temari who was currently getting checked up at the hospital, everyone in the room collectively were the entirety of Konoha's _active_ A-rank and S-rank ninjas.

The Hokage picked up his own manila folder, "Now, I am sure all of you are wondering why I called every active domestic ninja on our roster at A-rank or higher into one room in the middle of the night. Well," he paused, "minus our high profile newlyweds who are probably in a room of their own right now."

Konohamaru couldn't stop himself from snickering at that despite the disapproving looks the women in the room gave him and the Hokage.

"Oh man, I'm going to have so much material to use to make fun of little Hanabi when she gets back," He chortled. "Big Brother told me some of the things he had planned to do. Just a warning to you all: don't be surprised if you hear her calling him 'Master' when they get back. Naruto said he was going to 'tame' her and make her a nice submissive wife."

"Oh?" The Hokage threw him an interested look. "Perhaps you should relay some of those to the new editors of _Icha Icha_. I wouldn't mind reading about some of the creative ideas that Naruto comes up with. Although, if you think about it," the Hokage crossed his arms in mock seriousness, "Hanabi already declared her intent to be submissive with what she wore at the wedding. Do you think they could have…?"

Konohamaru gasped. "Of course!" His brother must have shown Hanabi such a great time the night before their wedding that Hanabi decided to reward him by—

"Ahem!" A purple-haired lady coughed.

Konohamaru rolled his eyes at Uzuki. Why did women have to be such prudes?

"Joke aside," Dragon, the hooded ANBU commander, stood up. No one aside from the Hokage and the ANBU sub-commanders knew exactly who Dragon was. Konohamaru had personally gone through the list of A-ranks and S-ranks to check if any of them were Dragon, but that line of investigation had produced nothing. After all, someone could always produce a shadow clone for meetings to throw people off. As far as they knew, Dragon could be a shadow clone of the Hokage. "Lord Hokage has called all of here to discuss several unknown threats to our village security and safety. Note, this is a list that ANBU has put together independently from the Intelligence and Espionage department. Now, let's turn to the first one in the file."

Konohamaru opened his file and saw the data profile and picture of a cloaked man named Taiyou no Kuroi Kokuten. Skimming quickly, he saw the man was classified as S-rank, with advanced skills in every single ninja art and tremendous chakra levels thought to rival lower level bijuus.

He raised an eyebrow. "Dragon, how accurate is our information? A _bijuu_? Are you serious? They haven't been seen since the last war! They were supposed to be sent to another dimension!"

"The information that Intelligence and Espionage collected goes very well in like with what ANBU has discovered."

"How is our intelligence on this man so complete?" Uzuki inquired. "If this Kokuten is as strong as suggested, how were there any survivors to tell the story?"

"I'll answer that before Ibiki does," Dragon commented. "Kokuten hasn't killed a single member of our forces. Jounin Hanabi, Special Jounin Lee, and Jounin Tenten battled him directly, while I personally took some of my ANBU operatives to track him down in the past week. He's a slippery fellow, but we managed to find out that he has deep ties with the revived Oto. Furthermore, from what we managed to gather from some of Oto ninjas we killed, this Kokuten is a big supplier for the current leader there."

"Oto?" Uzuki asked carefully. Konohamaru sighed. It had been a decade ago, but the woman was still hung up on the fact that her lover had been killed. To this day, the exact perpetrator had not been found. Sand, and especially Temari, was suspiciously keeping silent on it, but there was no evidence to prove anything one way or the other.

"I already told Lord Hokage this, but he has come up on our radar," Morino murmured, "because he has been seen by our covert operatives in the Land of Rice Fields. We weren't able to infiltrate Oto, but we have operatives in the country that have heard whispers of a cloaked man. And from the enemies we captured, some were all too willing to sing about this Kokuten being strong enough to demand the Oto leader not to make moves that antagonize the big five countries and the great villages.

Gai nodded. "We have also noticed activity on parts of our border around the small countries near Oto. There had been lots of unyouthful activities in the Land of Rice Fields that led to an investigation and subsequent discovery of Oto. It is being led by Kabuto, Orochimaru's former apprentice. But it is as Department Head Ibiki says, there is no suspicious activity in the big five countries."

The Hokage interrupted. "Interestingly enough, you'll find that Kabuto is second person on file. However, we'll get to him in a bit. Dragon has a theory that I believe all of you should hear."

"ANBU has reason to believe that Kokuten is Sasuke Uchiha," Dragon said slowly.

There was a small pause. Then…

"What!?" Ino yelled out incredulously. "Sasuke? But he's been missing for over six years!"

Dragon merely crossed his arms. "Well it appears that Sasuke Uchiha is now back."

"Well, shit," Yamato muttered.

Konohamaru didn't blame him. While Konoha freely released Sasuke from service, in exchange for a truce, no one was ever quite sure if Sasuke truly gave up his vengeance. It was said that Sasuke wanted revenge because he felt that Konoha had intentionally marginalized him and did not accept him as the Hokage. Konohamaru wasn't sure if he believed the story or not, but just decided to let it go. Sasuke wasn't his problem.

But now, it seemed like Sasuke was making a move to challenge the ninja world again. While Dragon did state that Sasuke hadn't taken the lives of any Konoha ninja—Konohamaru glanced at the second sheet in front of him—it appeared that Oto _had_ and had done so with weapons that Sasuke provided. The number of casualties was still below fifty, mostly new chuunin eager to prove their worth and rushing to their deaths, but it still wasn't something they could overlook.

"The last Uchiha? Ibiki and I did manage to obtain some information on his fighting style, but there's nothing there to confirm that it's Sasuke," Mitarashi added. "It would have been easy to confirm his existence with the snakes, but it appears that Sasuke terminated his contract with them long ago."

"When we encountered him, he did a good job of using a variety of techniques so he would be hard to identify, but we found a few key elements over the last two months that led us to suspect that it's Sasuke," Dragon stated in a monotone voice. "You'll see it in the file."

"High speed taijutsu, illusions without hand signs, powerful fire ninjutsu, and a lightning shroud similar to the Chidori Current?" Shirakumo murmured. "That's hardly enough evidence to claim that it's our renegade Uchiha. For all we know, it could be someone trying to mislead us."

Konohamaru didn't agree with the man, but the Shirakumo was known for being deliberate and looking at things without bias. But Dragon was said to be even a better strategist than Shikamaru. If Dragon concluded it was Sasuke, then that's where Konohamaru would put his money.

"There are not too many people outside of Konoha who know my Front Lotus well enough to dodge when I am moving with even one of the Inner Gates opened. This man dodged while I had _four_ open," Lee piped in. "Even with the Sharingan, it would have been fairly difficult to dodge unless he knew the move was already coming before I performed it. It would make sense if this Kokuten was Sasuke."

"Damn," Kanden whistled, "he managed to completely evade your Front Lotus? That some ridiculous speed."

"That's not all," Lee frowned. "Hanabi Hyuuga, well…I suppose it's now Hanabi Uzumaki, managed to pierce his mask with her Byakugan just as she blacked out and managed to get a glimpse of his eyes. She noted that they were red."

"Sharingan…" Morino muttered.

Dragon nodded. "He also made a point to comment on the girl's eyes. Such a statement is characteristic of what Sasuke would say."

Shirakumo frowned. "Still, the evidence is circumstantial at best."

Dragon nodded once more. "I agree. Don't misunderstand me. I am not saying that we are absolutely sure that this is the last Uchiha. For example, we notice in our encounter that this man uses a staff, something that Team Hanabi did not observe during their fight with him. Furthermore, the chakra pressure was nowhere near as potent as described in the reports by the members of Team Hanabi."

Lee frowned. "This Kokuten has shown a remarkable ability to control his aura at will so I wouldn't place too much stock in that. He could have been misleading you there as well."

"Agreed. What might complicate matters even further is that there may be two people masquerading as this cloaked man, or it may not be Sasuke at all. But Lord Hokage and I feel that it would be dangerous to assume the opposite as well. For now, we will say that Kokuten is _suspected _tobe Sasuke. That is why we send out that order recalling all our forces in foreign lands. Be on your guard."

"The identity of the person isn't too important at this time. If you run into a cloaked man with a black mask, while on a normal mission with a squad, just flee on sight," the Hokage ordered. "First of all, we still don't know if Kokuten is hostile to Konoha. We may not have to worry about him at all. Furthermore, this is not an enemy that any of you can take on, even with a full squad. I'll be sending out an advanced team, composed of only those in this room, but just from the reported chakra levels alone, our only bet might be to have to send our ace after him," the Hokage grumbled in mild frustration, "after he stops having fun in bed with a hot wife while I'm stuck with this damn hat. Ugh. I really need to get laid. I wonder if Shizune would be willing to keep me company tonight."

It was so quiet that they would have been able to hear a pin drop.

"Ah," the Hokage said in a nervous voice, "did I say that out loud?"

Konohamaru nodded silently as did everyone else in the room.

He counted in his head while chortling silently.

Three.

Two.

One.

"WHAT?!"

Chaos erupted. Gai was holding up a Shizune who had fainted—probably intentionally to avoid even more shame—in embarrassment, while Yamato and Sai were holding back a furious and indignant Uzuki and Ino. The entire room was filled with shrieks of anger from the women and full-blown laughter from most of the men.

Uzuki had somehow managed to pull free and had pulled out her sword.

"Everyone!" Dragon interrupted in a stern voice. "Calm down. It's just a damn joke! Act your ages! And besides, who gives a damn whom the Hokage sleeps with or fantasizes about? Just do your goddamn jobs."

There was a bit of silence. Dragon was right. Everyone _was_ overreacting just a bit.

Morino took over from here. "That's it for Kokuten and Sasuke. We're moving on." There was some shuffling of pages. "As mentioned, Oto is being run by Kabuto. As of now they are the more direct threat. Our operatives have discovered that, as already mentioned in Kokuten's file, Kabuto gets regular shipments of strange seals, which are designed to nullify any external chakra. The user is also prevented from using ninjutsu or genjutsu, but has an advantage in taijutsu because the seals are able to nullify even incoming taijutsu attacks."

"Lee." Dragon queried. "You are the only one here to have fought with a person using these seals to augment their abilities. My squad faced seals that _decreased_ the opponents abilities."

"It is as Department Head Morino says," Lee said thoughtfully, "None of the ninja arts are effective against someone with these seals on. The base talent of the user I was fighting didn't seem to be too high, but it was difficult to stay out of his reach. Even one hit shaves off a huge chunk of a ninja's reserves. Later on, when the cloaked man appeared, he mentioned something about the seals having limits, however."

"The only thing we know is that this Kokuten's fire attack that used up more than an A-rank's entire reserves had been above the expected threshold." Dragon added. "So these seals _can _be breached. It might be safe to assume that Kokuten has these seals on as well. But Phoenix and I were able to force the man to dodge our technique instead of nullifying it. Collaboration techniques become exponentially stronger with the addition of more people and may be the best bet. However," he added, "it is still recommended to use weapons to harm rather than chakra."

"I'll look to it so that one weapons user is sent on every team that heads in that direction," Yamato agreed, "and send in a notice to all the active ninjas to brush up on weapons techniques."

"It's a pain in the ass," Dragon added, "especially since we ninjas use chakra more than we do weapons, but I guess it's a good time to start making our forces a bit more well-rounded."

Konohamaru smiled in glee. He would enjoy teaching Naruto's brats about weapons. Those brats had it coming with all the pranks they kept pulling on him.

* * *

AN: A quick update. Hopefully, the next few updates will come quickly as well.

I'm just glad I'm done with the damn "filler arc," if it can be called that. Basically, the last few chapters were "what was going on in Konoha while Naruto and Hanabi are on their honeymoon" arc. Got so tired of it, that I just added the first half of what was supposed to be the next chapter. It worked out because it flows better with this chapter than the next.

Now it shifts to Naruto and Hanabi again for a few chapters for the final part of their honeymoon, which ends up being in the Land of the Moon. Honeymoon in the Land of the Moon. How fitting, right? And considering just _who_ is in the Land of the Moon right now, it won't just be fluff although I won't hold my breath for a Naruto-Sasuke showdown just yet.

I have an interesting idea for a couple new stories (well one new one and one adopted from another writer). I'm debating on whether I should start them. Either would be more popular than this one, at least from the get go, and definitely be more fun/less challenging to write, but I really want to finish this one before I start.


	17. Murphy's Law - Moon, Honeymoon

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. This is fanfiction, after all.

* * *

**Land of the Moon, April 17, AK 22**

"Hanabi," Naruto said as they got off the expensive ship, "there's something I have to tell you."

Naruto almost shivered when he saw the stoic gaze from his wife. Ever since their first night together, he was always worrying about whether or not he was making her upset. Maybe this was what Shikamaru's father had meant whenever he talked about the dynamics of a marriage. The men just had something in their genes that made them completely whipped by their wives.

It may also have had to do with the fact that she looked incredibly gorgeous dressed in a traditional aqua-colored kimono and part of her hair tied back. For the most part, the women of the Uzumaki clan didn't like to wear blue since it clashed with their red hair, but Hanabi, having dark hair, didn't have such concerns.

"You're not going to be telling me that you fathered a child with Lady Haruno, right?" her voice was dangerous. Naruto actually shivered this time.

But his curiosity got the better of him. "Why do you keep asking about Sakura? They way you keep bringing her up makes it seem like you think she's alive." Sakura wasn't dead of course, but Hanabi didn't know that. "How many times do I have to tell you? We were emotionally close as teammates but we never got along too well as boyfriend and girlfriend. Sure, we had sex before on one occasion, but overall our relationship was rather dysfunctional."

Hanabi still didn't look too pleased with that. Naruto couldn't blame her, however. He'd be pretty pissed off if he found out his partner for life had already slept with someone else.

"Just once?"

"One _occasion_," Naruto corrected. That night was a _long_ night. Sakura had been insatiable. "We were both drunk," Naruto added, "I'll be the first one to admit that I loved her dearly. But…I was always out on missions and well…I don't think she ever truly loved me."

He almost lost his balance as the girl jumped on him and hugged him tightly. A sweat drop appeared on the side of his head at her sudden switch in personality. "Well, that's good, because you're mine now!"

The sweat drop grew larger. "Hanabi," he said in a low tone, "you do know that we're still in public." Naruto sent an apologetic look towards his servants who were just gaping at them. He didn't blame them. Seeing a noblewoman glomp her husband was probably not something they saw everyday. In the past few weeks, Hanabi made sure to keep the displays of affection private, but for some reason, today, Hanabi threw out any sense of modesty. "If I were a psychiatrist, I would tell you that having no childhood has given birth to a rather childish side of you that manifests at the most random times."

"Oh shut up. You do it, too. You pretend to be an idiot all the time. I can pretend to be a little kid. And you know I'm cute enough to do so."

Naruto disagreed, but he nodded anyways, hoping that she'd release him.

No such luck.

"Hanabi! I'm not the one you should be imitating!" The girl now started snuggling against him. "And I do not pretend! The entire village just assumes that I'm dumb no matter what I do!"

"Whatever," she mumbled in a more serious tone, although she was still rubbing her face against his clothes. "Just shut up. I need my daily fix. I didn't get enough of you this morning when we woke up."

He developed a tic on his forehead. Naruto groaned in frustration as he started seeing his servants begin to chortle.

"Hey, all of you! I'm your master! Get this woman off of me!" he shouted, half in anger, half in jest.

"But Master! You told us to listen to Lady Hanabi first and foremost!" one of the female attendants argued.

"Lord Naruto, I don't think she would approve of us doing that."

"Lord Naruto, as your humble servant, I wish to inform you that this is something all men must endure. It is the law of life."

Naruto groaned loudly as the girl squeezed harder and as people stared and pointed. Because he knew Hanabi had grown up in a household of nobles, he had purchased slaves from across the Land of Fire. To ease his own conscience for having servants, he had decided to buy slaves from notoriously vicious slave traders who were known to abuse their charges regularly. He would have freed all of them, but they had already been branded with the mark of a slave and Naruto did need attendants for Hanabi.

So he decided to compromise with himself. He offered the ten people—three young children and their mothers and four men, including a father of one of the children—a place to stay, free food, and free education for the children as long as Hanabi was taken care of. Being a noble, Hanabi didn't know how to do the most basic of things by herself such as cook, clean, and put on formal clothing.

Fortunately, all the servants did know how to do those things and were quite adept at it so it worked out. Still, Naruto had repeatedly stressed that they were attendants and assistants and _not_ slaves. Naruto even promised that the children of the children would not be branded with the mark of a slave even though Naruto and the Uzumaki clan were well within their rights to do so. In fact, Naruto would leave an order to have them adopted into the clan.

The eleventh "servant" was Sasame, whom he had met while tracing Orochimaru nearly a decade ago. Naruto had run into her again on one of his missions. The girl had been lost in life after the remnants of her clan sold her into slavery. She had managed to free herself and had wandered from city to city escaping the authorities. Naruto had kept in contact with her for information outside of Konoha, trained her, and had asked her to take care of a couple of orphans he had found during his missions. But now, after his marriage, he needed to start living and acting like a true clan head. Furthermore, it would only help to have associates and friends near him. His associates being in better position to protect Hanabi was just a bonus.

"Sasame! You have to help me. You're a girl, so you should know what to do about this!" He desperately turned to the girl who was wearing a white and red robe, showing her status as the lead retainer.

Naruto kept trying to push Hanabi off of him as other people who were getting off the ship whispered and chuckled as they passed by. Some people even took out cameras to take picture of them.

"Lord Naruto, unfortunately, there is no way of escaping the claws of your most beloved. It is just something you accept in life," the usually loyal orange-haired girl said with a traitorous smile.

For once, Naruto found himself regretting giving his retainers so much leeway. "I hate you all!" he called out as loud as he could.

Giggles and chuckles were his only responses.

Hanabi released him. "Now that I'm satisfied with having thoroughly embarrassed you, dear husband, you were saying?"

Naruto glared before remembering what he had to tell her. "Well, I'm going to apologize in advance."

"For?" Hanabi raised an eyebrow.

"There's going to be something that goes wrong on our trip. Probably a fight or a conspiracy or something," he sighed. "Granny Tsunade called it Kami's way of getting back to me for having the devil's luck in everything. Since this is our final spot and since nothing happened on our trip so far, I'm pretty sure _something_ will happen here."

"So it wasn't just rumors when people said you attract trouble?"

Naruto shook his head. "It's like the rule of our universe or something. If I'm involved with something, something must go wrong so I can fix it. Murphy's Rule applied to Narutoverse or something like that. That's what the Pervy Sage said. He said I was the Chosen Child of Prophecy for a reason."

His wife laughed at him. "Get over yourself." Then she smiled sweetly. "Well," she cooed. Naruto backed up in case she tried to glomp him again. "I don't mind as long as I'm with you." She got a dreamy look in her eyes.

He wanted to smack his forehead. He groaned yet again and the spoke in a low voice, so that only she could hear. "A few weeks in bed together and now your personality has completely changed. What the hell did I get myself into?"

The girl gave no indication she heard.

Naruto shook his head when he saw the girl had red hearts shining in her eyes.

The girl had been repressed, that much was certain, but she had gotten attached to him a little too quickly in his opinion. While he cared about her, he was still very far from being in love with her, whereas she sometimes reverted to being as needy as Hinata was. He could handle that in tiny spurts, but he didn't want to be babying his wife for the rest of his life. He just hoped it was an emotional high of having just been married and enjoying the evening "benefits" of marriage. He preferred her a lot more when she acted a lot more mature.

_Eh, whatever. Shikamaru was right. Women are too damn troublesome to deal with._

Naruto nodded at his male servants as he summoned the palanquin he had designed. He hated using it, but appearances had to be kept at times. He took some consolation in the fact that the damn thing was covered with seals, many of which were designed to help keep the palanquin light.

He picked up the still daydreaming girl and stepped inside.

* * *

**Crescent Moon Palace, Land of the Moon – April 17, AK 22**

"King Michiru," Hanabi followed along as Naruto bowed his head lightly as he stood before the throne. "It has been quite a while since this humble servant of Yours has last seen Your Grace. Your Majesty looks as healthy and bright as ever."

Hanabi threw furtive glances at the slightly plump king. The king wasn't fat by any means, but seemed to have a bright smile and exuberant energy that made him seem more round and jolly.

"Ah, Naruto!" The excited king exclaimed. "The last time you were here was three years ago right? Hikaru isn't in the kingdom right now and won't be back for another few weeks, but since you'll be here for the next month or so, you'll get to see him too. Oh right, I forgot," Michiru got a stern expression on his face. "Lord Uzumaki, We welcome you to Our kingdom. You are a friend to Us and have done Us a great service many a time and hope you find all your wishes fulfilled during your stay here in Our kingdom."

"Yes, King Michiru. Your servant is honored to have been granted permission to stay in Your kingdom and receive Your protection. Your grace is immeasurable, Your Majesty."

There was a pause and both Naruto and the King burst out laughing much to the chagrin of some of the more traditional advisors in the hall. "Naruto my boy, how did you manage to say all of that with a straight face?"

At the King's wave, Naruto lifted his head up and instructed her to do so as well. Hanabi was surprised but not too shocked at Naruto's familiarity with the king. No matter where her husband went, it seemed he completely turned hierarchy and social norms upside down.

"I have been improving my acting skills over the last few years," Naruto said with a smile. "I get a lot of practice every day of my life." Knowing what she did now, she was able to understand his comments. He was most likely talking about acting like an idiot in front of everyone when he was most certainly intelligent. "But where are my manners?" he led her forward, "This is my beautiful wife, the most beautiful woman in the world," Naruto said proudly, bringing her to blush, "after Queen Amayo, of course," he added.

Hanabi didn't know whether to be annoyed with Naruto for that the statement or impressed that Naruto did know how to play the game of politics.

"You flatter me, Lord Uzumaki," Hanabi turned to see a beautiful lady in a royal dress. The customs of this land were different so Hanabi found herself being fascinated by the differences in fashion. The clothes of this land were far thinner than the kimonos she was used to seeing at home. "Your wife is gorgeous. My compliments." The queen said with a smile before looking at her. "He is an amazing man, your husband. Don't ever take him for granted."

Hanabi closed her eyes and bowed her head in assent. "Yes, Queen Amayo. I shall keep your words of wisdom in my heart."

"See that you do. My apologies, but I have some other businesses to attend to," the queen smiled as she left the hall to go to somewhere else. Hanabi thought it was rather strange that the queen had just entered the room only to leave soon, but she shrugged it off as royals being fickle.

Hanabi found the king giving her an appraising look before turning to Naruto. "No offense, Naruto my boy, but I think she's a bit too elegant for someone like you. I didn't think you'd be one to take someone so calm and mild. I always imagined you taking someone more…energetic."

Hanabi didn't react despite hearing the sexual innuendo there. The man in front of her was a king and despite Naruto's friendship with him, there was a large gap in political power. She and Naruto would have to endure whatever the king said, no matter how inappropriate.

Hanabi was irate at her husband's response, however. "Oh man. King Michiru. You have no idea. That's what I thought at first too. She appears like a sweet little angel on the outside. But once you get close to her, she's a wild one. I barely can handle her. Her name's Hanabi (fireworks) for a reason."

She bumped her husband lightly. "Why the hell are you giving hints to the king about our sex life?" she hissed angrily.

Naruto ignored her as the king laughed. She wanted to growl. It was probably his way of getting back at her for her antics this morning. _Tch. Who knew that Sage Naruto was so damn petty? _"Well, as long as you're happy, my boy. This country and I owe you a huge debt. We can't afford to offer you a blank check this time around, but consider at least your stay here completely free of charge!"

Hanabi would have gaped if she weren't in front of the king. The resorts in the Land of the Moon were among the most expensive in the entire Elemental Nations. They had brought a tremendous amount of money with them to pay for this trip. If those funds could be allocated elsewhere…

Hanabi was a kunoichi but she was also a girl at heart. A girl who had been starved of everything a girl could want to do, including shopping, shopping, and more shopping.

"Aww. You know I can't accept that," she internally groaned at her husband's sense of morality. She resigned herself to buying only a few articles of clothing. It had been foolish of her to get her hopes up. Naruto was simply too honorable for his own good.

"Naruto!" King Michiru said sternly. "You said the last time too and when I insisted, you ended up buying nothing! Sakura and Kakashi were the only ones to take advantage of my generous offer. Sakura bought enough clothes to wear for an entire year and Kakashi cleaned out an entire adult section of a bookstore. Lee only bought a few sets of customized spandex that said 'youth' and you bought _nothing_! You _will_ accept this time!"

"But…" her husband protested.

"This isn't a matter of you being rewarded, Naruto!" The king's tone became softer. "It is also for Our own conscience and honor. Our father has given Us a mission not only take care of this land but to be a just and fair ruler. To not pay Our debts to you would be an insult to Our father's memory. So if not for yourself, then do it for _Us_." Hanabi flushed when the king stared at her. "And do think of the wife as well." His eyes briefly flickered towards the hallway. "We think you were close to giving her a heart attack. A month's stay at some of Our resorts could completely destroy a small clan's finances."

Naruto turned and gave her a long look. Although she was skilled at reading him by now, even she couldn't interpret everything that was that look.

He turned and faced the king. "My deepest apologies, King Michiru. Your servant has never considered the pain his selfishness has brought You. Your servant shall_ fully_ _accept _Your generous offer. Your grace is truly immeasurable."

Hanabi felt slightly confused when the king looked incredibly relieved before giving a small nod to Naruto. "Now that wasn't so hard, was it?"

Naruto formally bowed his head in assent. "Your grace is immeasurable, Your Majesty."

* * *

**Ceiling of Nara Clan Head Home, Konoha – April 17, AK 22**

"Shikamaru, I have some matters I wish to bring up with you."

"Shino?" Shino watched as Konoha's lead strategist as his friend yawned and stretched. Shino twitched in irritation at the show. Shino was a patient man, but even he had his limits. Going through this ritual each time he met with the Nara clan head was somewhat trying.

"Shikamaru, do you not ever stop to think that a clan head such as you is too old to be playing these kinds of games?"

"Eh?" The shadow user rubbed his eyes. "Games?"

"Yes. This game where you keep up a pretense of being apathetic and unmotivated. It has been a long time since you were the lazy student you once were in the Academy. If you need proof, it is self-evident in the fact that you are the ANB—"

"I can have you killed for revealing classified information."

"I doubt that," Shino replied in his monotone voice. "As I have yet to reveal anything. You interrupted me before I could." Shino decided to sarcastically—but still in a monotone—add, "I wish to thank you for being considerate and saving my life."

In fact, Shino had been counting on Shikamaru to interrupt him. Otherwise, his friend would not have taken what he said seriously. It was his way of telling Shikamaru the information he was critical.

"That was the point, Shino," Shikamaru drawled, not at all bothered by the sarcastic remark. "It's classified for a reason. You shouldn't be saying stuff like that out loud."

"Very well," Shino nodded. He now knew that he had the ANBU Commander's full attention. "In exchange, you will hear what I have to tell you."

"Geez, what a drag."

Shino took that as his sign to begin. "I had fully intended to keep this to myself, but realized that I may be doing more harm than good. This is about Hanabi and her marriage to Naruto. You had asked about the marriage contract and her motivations."

Shino was pleased to see Shikamaru Nara disappear and ANBU Commander Dragon appear in the other's eyes. "Yes?"

"Power." Shino stated. "That was her motivation."

"I don't follow," Shikamaru frowned.

"This may become a long explanation," Shino murmured. "Around a decade and half ago, there was a man in my clan who encountered an S-rank missing ninja on a mission. When he returned, he was a changed man, fearful at every little surprise. The man became obsessed with the idea of power and crushing anything that might bring harm to him."

"So you're saying that Hanabi is the same way. So you're validating Lee's hypothesis that Hanabi married the only available S-rank so she stand behind his power. And your hypothesis is that because Hanabi knew that Naruto was the only one available, she eventually convinced herself that she wanted to marry him, thereby activating the contract."

"Correct," Shino commented. "A desire for power in itself is not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself. A desire to become stronger helps a person to mature and to work harder. However, in some cases, people may become obsessed and end up taking dangerous short cuts to power. The man in our clan performed many forbidden experiments on himself to develop a new type of toxic kikaichu never seen before in our clan and ended up joining a now defunct organization called Root, run by former Elder Shimura. I am not particularly worried about Naruto's marriage, but I am worried about his emotional health in the case Hanabi were to continue to relentlessly seek power. We know that he's still hurting because of Sakura's death."

Shino let Shikamaru spend a few minutes in thought at that.

"Hm…it's a little to early to say if Hanabi will end up like Sasuke. As far as we know, Hanabi has had a relatively decent life so it may be that she's just a scared girl. She has shown no signs of anxiety or fear that your ex-clansman showed."

Shino nodded. "It is why I have sought you out in private. I want to be able to keep a closer eye on her. I believe it would help if you were involved as well."

The Nara clan head frowned. "Don't you think you're letting your emotions rule your decisions, Shino?"

Shino stood there for a few seconds in though. He didn't think so. How did wanting to observe Hanabi for suspicious behavior count as emotional? He was merely acting based on the information he had.

"How so?"

"Are you sure that you're not letting your anger about Hanabi being picked over Hinata dictate your actions and thoughts regarding Hanabi's mental state?"

Shino considered that carefully. It was theoretically possible, he supposed. He didn't feel angry, necessarily, but sometimes anger worked in subtle ways.

"I admit that it may be possible," he finally said, "but I believe my argument still holds. It is one of the reasons why I have sought you out. You hold considerable power as a clan head," Shino paused to let Shikamaru know that "clan head" was _not_ what he really meant, "and may be able to observe her in ways that I may not. I am merely here to present a warning that Hanabi may become a traitor if power is truly her goal."

"Speaking of power, what of the Hyuuga clan?" the shadow user asked. "Do you see any problems there? It is clear to anyone that the Hyuuga clan benefits from this marriage."

Shino shook his head. Shino supposed that other clans might claim the existence of a conspiracy, but Shino knew life itself was filled with competition. In a competition, someone won and someone lost. In this case, the Hyuuga clan won.

"Did not the other clans offer their daughters as well? I believe that the Aburame clan also offered a girl to Naruto even though the identity of the girl is not public knowledge within the clan. I do not see a problem with the Hyuuga clan being the ones to come out on top. I see no evidence for a conspiracy."

Shikamaru didn't look surprised at being read and merely acknowledged with a nod that he had been thinking along the lines of a conspiracy.

"Hm…thanks Shino. I'll take what you said into consideration."

Shino nodded.

He would not let Naruto be a victim of a treacherous wife. It was his duty as Naruto's friend.

* * *

**Ceiling of Nara Clan Head Home, Konoha – April 17, AK 22**

"Power, huh?" Shikamaru stared at the clouds as they passed by.

He ran through the recent events in his head. It had started with Sakura being attacked with a fuinjutsu that targeted the brain. After that things started to roll rapidly with two countries asking for Naruto's hand in marriage. During that time, Naruto had been sent on multiple S-rank missions, one with severe collateral damage. Naruto regularly came back with signs of mental strain and his psychological evaluations showed that he was upset. All of that was expected given his volume of missions and having his girlfriend killed just in front of his house. Hanabi also had been sent out on a mission that had gone wrong when a teammate was killed and they were attacked by an S-rank ninja who used high-speed taijutsu, space-time ninjutsu, fuinjutsu, fire ninjutsu, and had red eyes. While Hanabi was out on her mission, Naruto had requested her hand in marriage after being forced to pick someone in the village and had rejected Hinata. Hanabi accepted immediately after being told of the offer, presumably because she wanted to leave her clan.

Some other facts: Naruto was absolutely committed to Sakura and would not have seen Hanabi. Hanabi was seen sneaking out of the Hyuuga Clan Compound between the time of Sakura's death and her marriage with Naruto.

No matter how much he thought of it, it looked too much like a conspiracy. Ibiki was right in that the proper motivation wasn't there, but on the other hand, the pattern of events was indicative of a plot. They were just missing something here. Shino had then added that Hanabi's motivation was out of fear and a desire for power.

Shikamaru chuckled.

It would easily make sense if _Naruto_ were the one who had attacked Sakura and then_ Naruto_ had been the one to attack Hanabi as Kokuten, scaring her so much that she would accept a marriage with him so he could create a dynasty like Ibiki proposed. Given the timing of Naruto's demand, it was after Hanabi had been frightened so if Naruto was the S-rank ninja, he could have used space-time ninjutsu to teleport back to Konoha in time for the general assembly. That made the most logical sense in a vacuum.

But there were facts that exonerated Naruto completely.

First of all, Naruto didn't have the skillset of this S-ranked man. Naruto didn't know space-time ninjutsu. His fuinjutsu wasn't quite at master level just yet. He wouldn't have been able to place such a strong one on Sakura or be involved with those chakra nullification seals that Team Hanabi mentioned. Naruto was only able to use fire ninjutsu during Kyuubi Mode, which would easily been identified by _at least _Lee, who saw it multiple times. The yellow shroud would be a dead giveaway even while wearing black robes.

Since the man wasn't using Kyuubi Mode, it couldn't possibly have been Naruto who has blue eyes under normal circumstances or orange during Sage Mode.

That wasn't even counting the fact that Naruto _loved_ Sakura to death and would never attack her. Nor would he work with someone like Kabuto in making those seals.

And still more was the fact that the black cloaked man seemed more like Sasuke than Naruto. Sasuke was heavily obsessed with the power of his eyes and had always been making comments about how all ninjutsu were powerless before his eyes and that his eyes were powerful because of his spirit of hatred and anger. None of that seemed anything like Naruto.

Maybe there was a third party involved altogether. That would fill in some of the missing gaps, but that wasn't a pleasant thought either. Any time an unknown S-rank threat appeared, it was never good. The last time that happened, the Fourth Ninja World War broke out.

Shikamaru sighed. This might just be a puzzle he would never figure out.

"What are you thinking about?

"Troublesome woman, what did I tell you about coming up here during my nap time?"

"And how many times did I tell you that I'll only listen to you if you're at least the same rank as I am, Shikamaru? You're currently only an A-rank."

"B-rank officially," he drawled. "_Dragon_ is A-rank, _Shikamaru_ is B-rank."

"And here I thought you were going to chastise me for revealing classified information," Temari smirked. "Or would that have been too _troublesome_?"

Shikamaru groaned. Temari always tried to pick a fight over every little thing. "Look, stop making my life more complicated than it needs to be. I don't give a damn about my rank, official or not. I just wanted to live an average life, get married to an average looking female, and have one girl and one boy. And then die way before my wife. And since you came into my life, you've been completely messing everything up. First you become my opponent, forcing me to work harder than I wanted to, which leads me to become one of the rare few who manage to become chuunin on their first try in their rookie year. Then you constantly nag me until your nagging became more troublesome than becoming a jounin."

"And?" Temari growled out as she began to become red with anger. "It doesn't seem like you're done. Go on! Say it! I'm sure you'll feel better after letting it all out."

"Yeah. Yeah." He snorted, "Then you somehow make me fall in love with you, which completely ruined my plan of getting married to an average looking woman." Shikamaru would have rolled his eyes if he hadn't been in hitting distance when he saw that the red on Temari's face was now a shy blush. Women were just too emotional for their own good. "You've already taken control of ninety percent of my life. So don't try to take away what little I have of my original plan. I like sitting here and looking at the clouds, okay?"

His wife didn't reply for a while and let him watch the clouds as he wanted. But despite the outward show of relaxing, his mind was working overtime trying to solve this damn conspiracy puzzle.

"You must be stressed," Temari finally said, in the softest tone he heard from her. "That was only the second time you said you love me."

He snapped out of his thoughts. Was that really true? Impossible. He had to have said it more than that.

"Tch. I love you," he said in a dull tone, not betraying his thoughts. "That makes three. I just tripled your love points in a span of two minutes. Are you going to level up any time soon?"

"Don't be silly and just tell me what's on your mind," the girl said with a smile. "I know it might be confidential information, but you, at the very least, know you can trust me with your life."

He nodded. Kakashi might not approve, but Shikamaru trusted Temari and Suna. Such things like village loyalty and boundaries meant little to him. That was one of the things he had in common with Naruto.

And speaking of Naruto…

"It's about Naruto."

"Naruto? About his marriage to that Hyuuga girl?"

He closed his eyes. It was no use looking at the clouds when he was concentrating on talking. The extra brainpower needed to process sight and hearing at the same time was troublesome to say the least.

"His marriage didn't and doesn't make sense at all. He loved Sakura and didn't know Hanabi at all. On top of that Hanabi fully accepts from the bottom of her heart, as shown when she activating a contract seal on a marriage contract."

"Perhaps Naruto just wanted to move on," Temari said as she sat down next to where was lying down. "You know as well as I do that pinky didn't love him in the way he loved her."

"You don't know Naruto as well as I do. When he does things, he does it with his entire heart. That goes for loving too. He couldn't have just moved on. There really is something going on here."

"People change, Shikamaru. You used to be a lazy bum," he turned to glare at her, "but look at you, now. You're one of the top officials in the village, married to arguably the strongest kunoichi in the world."

He chuckled. "You just had to throw that last statement in there, huh?"

She smiled at him. "Of course. If I don't compliment myself, then nobody will. Least of all my lazy husband who can't even be bothered to say the three little words I desperately want to hear most."

Shikamaru's breath hitched at that. He hadn't known she had felt that way at all. Was he being that neglectful of his wife? If so, things would have to change. And fast.

"I'm sorry, Temari," he said in an ashamed tone. He thought back at what Ino had said.

_Flashback_

_Shikamaru gave her a sad look. "The Fourth Hokage sacrificed himself and his son. I should be able to do the same. At the very least, my children will have Temari around to take care of them."_

"_Y…you…you're willing to go that far?"_

"_It'd be troublesome to go through the process of child-rearing anyway. I always did want to end up dying much earlier than my wife," Shikamaru chuckled lightly in a lame attempt at a joke._

_Ino walked up to him and slapped him. Hard. _

"_You _bastard_! You're just running away and trying to ease your guilt by dying. Instead of looking to die, you should be trying to figure a way out of this mess with that brain of yours. You don't just have a responsibility towards the village; you have a responsibility to your wife and your future kids!"_

_End Flashback_

Shikamaru suddenly regretted volunteering yet _again_ to go searching after Sasuke with Naruto once he came back even after the botched mission the first time around. The first time around, it appeared that Sasuke was more interested in evading them than fighting them. This time, it might be different. Shikamaru had no doubts that the Uchiha was stronger than he was. If he thought about it, Kakashi was right; their only hope might be to send Naruto. Shikamaru had initially volunteered to support his friend in what was going to be yet another painful reunion with Sasuke, but he felt his resolve wavering as he looked into Temari's green eyes.

It had been much easier to say he didn't care about his own life when he wasn't looking at the woman he loved. It was probably why he tried to keep his distance emotionally from his wife as much as possible. She made him want to live. Not for himself, but for _her_.

Her smile only became sad. "Not the three words I had been hoping to hear, Shika. But that'll have to do for now."

"Stop this, Temari. You know I love you," he said. He sat up and grabbed her as he embraced her forcefully. "I. Love. You. Don't you ever doubt that. Ever!" It was the first time he ever raised his voice to his wife, but he felt that it was justified. He would not have Temari doubting his love for her. He called her troublesome all the time, but she was what made life _less_ of a drag.

She smiled brilliantly when he let her go and reached down to hold his hand. Shikamaru noticed the light blush on her face and saw that she was looking up at the clouds to avoid his gaze. "And I you. You're probably wondering what brought this _troublesome _conversation up. I have something to tell you, love."

"Hm?"

"You said you wanted one boy and one girl, right? And you know that I was at the hospital earlier this morning…"

His eyes widened. Is that what he thought it meant?

"Well, you have one of those on the way. I'm finally pregnant, Shikamaru."

He would never admit to anyone else later on, but at that moment, with the stress of taking care of the village and the knowledge that he was neglecting his wife, and now the revelation he was going to be a father, he fainted.

* * *

**Hotel Resort, Land of the Moon – April 17, AK 22**

Naruto thought back to what the king had said as he lied down on his lounger staring at the stars while sipping his drink while in Sage Mode. His feet were in the water and Naruto was somewhat unconsciously doing a chakra control exercise of trying to keep his feet from being wet by coating them with a thin layer of blunt wind nature chakra.

There had been a hidden message in his words, pleading for help. The first sign of a problem was when the king said he couldn't afford to give them a blank check. The Land of the Moon's economy was at its highest point in over a decade. Naruto had almost missed that hint. The shift to the royal we, something Naruto knew Michiru hated with a passion, might as well have been a scream for help as the king had thought Naruto missed the first hint. The obvious relief on the king's face when Naruto "accepted" the mission was only confirmation that there was something going on. The king obviously was being watched and couldn't talk or move freely. The key sentence was the last sentence before Naruto "accepted" the mission.

"…_A month's stay at some of Our resorts could completely destroy a small clan's finances."_

Why had King Michiru not simply used the word bankrupt? Naruto closed his eyes to think of the other clues. What else did Michiru throw out there as hints? Land? Honor? Reward? Father? Memory? Heart attack? Small clan? Michiru wasn't a ninja so the code couldn't have been too complicated, but Naruto was flying blind here.

And he had his wife to think of. King Michiru obviously thought Hanabi would be in danger if she got involved. Fortunately, Michiru didn't know that Hanabi was a ninja so it was likely that he overestimated the danger for her but the king had sounded terrified for Naruto as well even after knowing about Naruto's power. So he wasn't even going to let a fly near Hanabi without him knowing about it. It was why he was currently in Sage Mode with his eyes transformed to look how they usually did. He was keeping tabs on his wife to make sure nothing even remotely dangerous got near her.

Hanabi didn't know the king's tendencies and had probably missed the clues. _Given how Sakura acted when we visited again three years ago, buying every single thing in sight, trusting a girl to have my back on this mission probably isn't the best idea. And I really don't want to screw over the honeymoon experience for Hanabi._

He was shaken out of his thoughts by his wife joining him by swimming over and joining him on the two person lounger.

"You seem to be in thoughtful mood since the meeting with the king."

"Mmm," Naruto put on a contented smile on his face, "just some old memories. Enjoying the stay here so far?"

The girl smiled. "I checked out the malls nearby. They even have an underground mall below this hotel. The selection is amazing!"

Naruto was tempted to roll his eyes as the girl talked about the different kimonos and dresses she would buy. He didn't see what the big deal was. But if it made Hanabi happy, he was all for letting her buy whatever she wanted. Running almost forty S-rank missions on top of inheriting a tremendous amount of money from both sides of his family AND from Ero-sennin made him richer than most _clans_. He was probably the single richest person in Konoha, even if he didn't necessarily have the richest clan. He was fairly certain that only the Hyuuga clan, with its mounds of old money, and the Akimichi clan, with all its food-related businesses, were richer than the Uzumaki clan. And even then, it was probably close. If he knew the idea of shopping made her this happy, he probably would have brought more money.

"Feel free to spend up to all the money we brought on whatever you want."

"Really?!" Naruto couldn't help but smile at the happy look on her face. "Father _never_ lets me buy anything!"

Naruto laughed. "I'm not your father. I'm your husband and I want to spoil you, dear. Just make sure to buy things you'll actually wear and use. Remember, your attendants will be with you as well and you don't want to come off as the same kind of wasteful, thoughtless, and arrogant noble as many of the others."

Hanabi frowned. "You know, love," Naruto winced at her choice of word. He still wasn't comfortable with this idea of love, "when you're talking about the poor and needy, you get this really far-off look in your eyes and sound like an old sagely king."

Naruto thought about that. He supposed he did. He was once passionate about becoming the Hokage and being acknowledged. Now that he was acknowledged by most, or at the very least, respected by most, he was more concerned about others who had difficult lives. In a way, Naruto figured he was giving to them what he himself had always wanted. He had always wanted someone to enter and completely turn the course of life around. There was no such person for him and he somehow managed, but the path had truly been difficult. He could have turned out as isolated as Gaara, fatalistic like Neji, or as hateful as Sasuke.

Luckily, at the very least, he had people who cared for him, people who loved him.

That reminded him.

Love…

He still wasn't in love with his wife and it made him uncomfortable to see her so love-struck, even if it was socially appropriate for her to be so.

He did talk to her about this on her wedding night, but he decided to bring up the topic again. "I'm just being honest with you, but I still don't love you."

"I know," came the simple response. He was startled by the quick response but figured that she was getting better at reading him. It was only expected since she spent most of the day and night with him now.

Naruto placed his hand lightly on her face. "But I want to tell you this much at least. Even if I don't end up falling in love with you, I intend to stay committed to you. I'm sure that before we left, you heard whispers of that archaic law that people want to use to try to get me to have my own harem. I'm sure Hinata is looking at the clauses this very moment to see how she can join somehow even with you as my wife." Naruto let that sink in before going on, "Fortunately, it only applies in the village so I can't be forced into a political marriage with a foreign dignitary. That cuts down the pressure a lot. However, I don't intend to use it even for women within the village. I value commitment as much as I do love. Marrying another woman, even if I was still married to you, would be breaking that commitment to you."

The girl gave him a slightly surprised look, "But you could always just rationalize it by saying you love all your wives. I would completely understand if you married other women. You're a noble so that's something you're entitled to do. And I grew up in a royal family so I've come to accept that my husband might want to take multiple wives. You should consider it so you can revive your clan much faster."

Naruto gave her a pointed look. "So you would be perfectly fine if I ended up love another girl more than I love you?"

He saw the girl pause before looking down. "If I had to be honest, no. I want you to love me and only me. Let me amend my statement then," Hanabi insisted, "I wouldn't mind if you got _concubines_. You have to restore your clan somehow."

"And what if I ended up loving one of those concubines after spending so much time with them, Hanabi?" Naruto shook his head. "That would just be unfair to you. Love to me isn't about caring, isn't about feelings, or whatever. Love is about exclusivity. There is only one person in the world you care for more than any other. Think of this example: what if all my friends from my generation were taken hostage and I was given the choice to save one, but only one, what would I do? Yes, I'll probably agonize and struggle with the decision, but eventually, I have to choose one. That means that I will have valued that friendship a fraction more than my friendships with the others. Similarly, I can only care for one person more than anyone else. In short, I can only _love_ only one person. By marrying you, I already chose that person to be you. I may or may not end up loving you. But if there's someone I do end up falling in love with, it will be you. Okay?"

There were many people that Naruto loved over the course of his life. But he knew that he would only able to truly love one person in _that_ manner. Maybe others believed differently, but Naruto believed that the human heart was only big enough to romantically love one person at one time.

And for the longest time, he had thought that person would be Sakura.

Naruto shook his head. After her betrayal, however, he had decided to keep an open mind but a closed heart. He wasn't going to push the issue of love with himself ever again. If he fell in love with Hanabi, then good. If he didn't, then that suited him just as well.

He did suppose he could take concubines, but he didn't want to put himself in a situation where he would fall in love with another girl who wasn't his wife. It would be unfair to everyone involved and create unnecessary drama.

As Hanabi laid her head on his chest, his mind returned to more important matters.

_What the hell was King Michiru trying to tell me?_

* * *

**Crescent Moon Palace, Land of the Moon – April 17, AK 22**

Karin was pacing around, carrying her one-year-old child, as she thought about what to do. Their operation in the Land of the Moon had hit a snag. Initially, she had been assigned to threaten King Michiru for more money for their research and army and for a few weeks, the plan had been going well. With the amount of money that the Land of the Moon made, none of the other countries would suspect any unusual behavior.

They had given the king an ultimatum: support their research and army building or die. The king had been quite devious. He agreed, but had tried to send his son and his wife to get help using the secret passageways throughout the island kingdom. The plan would have worked had Karin not been the most talented sensor in the entire world. As punishment, both the son and the queen were held hostage. All the advisors were placed under genjutsu to keep them in line.

However, today, Naruto Uzumaki had landed on the island for his honeymoon. He had also come at a bad time. Sasuke was currently away on yet _another_ training trip to the Gelel Continent. She grimaced. She should have kept a closer eye on the advisors. They had been programmed to act as normally as possible while reporting to her the movements of the king. So they had passed Naruto's application to enter the kingdom, as they would have done normally.

"I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you," Karin warned. "I sensed Naruto's chakra the moment he stepped onto the island. You're a smart man and I'm sure you understood why I interrupted your conversation with Naruto under the guise of Queen Amayo today. Luckily, it didn't appear that you warned Naruto. Otherwise, you might not see your wife and son ever again."

There was another reason why she showed her face: to scout out the enemies. She was shocked at the tremendous power Naruto held at first before calming down when she remembered that all of his chakra would be of no use against their seals. If push came to shove, she and Juugo could set up the true Gelel sealing array rather than the paper prototypes that Sasuke had created using a small amount of chakra from the Gelel Stones to use in emergencies against powerful ninjas.

"I understand," the king nodded. "However, we're at a stalemate. If you harm my wife and son, I can pass off a message to Naruto. You may very well end up killing me as well, but it will be the end for you as well. I have heard rumors of Naruto's rivalry with your husband. He's more than a match for Sasuke Uchiha."

Karin smirked, calling the king's bluff. "You don't even believe the words coming out of your own mouth. Yes, Naruto is strong. Under normal circumstances, he may very well be a match for my husband. However, you personally had a demonstration of the power we now yield. We can easily strip Naruto of his strength at any time. A ninja without chakra is a dead ninja."

"You won't get away with this. No matter how strong you may be individually, you won't be able to stand against the combined might of the Elemental Nations."

Karin nodded. "We understand that. That's why we're going to knock them down one at a time, starting with Kiri. In any case, just shut up and your wife and son will be fine. Sasuke swore an oath on his family name that your family will be unharmed if you follow our instructions for the next year, so you have nothing to worry about."

With that, she left the hall and returned to her own room.

Even though they had the ability to negate Naruto's chakra, she had to be extremely careful. Naruto wasn't a sensor, but if he got wind of their plans, he would be able to take them out before they managed to negate his chakra. They especially had to be wary of his wife. Her eyes would easily be able to see the advanced chakra networks in her and Juugo's body.

So just in case, she was masking her chakra with her own special ability and Juugo was masquerading as a normal Getsuga ninja sent to protect the king.

It seemed like their ploy was working. Karin closed her eyes to feel the girl's chakra. The Hyuuga girl was currently with Naruto right now. And the girl had only been interest shopping. There were no signs that the girl had activated her bloodline. It was likely that Naruto would finish up his honeymoon without any problems and get out of the Land of the Moon.

Still, Karin was extremely grateful that Sasuke had the foresight to send backup early on.

"Did you decide on what you're going to do?"

Karin turned to see Juugo standing at the door of her room. "I'm not sure," she frowned, "but I have a favor to ask of you."

"Anything."

"I need to you get off this island and return to the Gelel continent."

Juugo raised an eyebrow. "Why? If Naruto is here, then shouldn't I be here as your support? You've gotten stronger over the years, but you're still not a fighter." Juugo held up a blue-green stone. He, like her, had elected not to have it implanted in his body like Sasuke had done. Too many of their techniques were chakra-based and they couldn't afford to be vulnerable for the time it took to learn how to use the Gelel flux. "Furthermore, we all just started learning how to use this new power. You're going to have to use it against Naruto and more help couldn't hurt."

Karin shook her head. "I'm not too worried about that. I'm more worried about my son."

They both turned their heads towards the cradle in the room. "I see," Juugo murmured. "You want me to take him back home in case things go wrong here."

"And stay there with him," Karin said firmly. "This mission has to go on. It's for Sasuke's ambition. However," she paused, "I don't think even Sasuke would want to risk his own son for it. Itachi takes priority and I don't trust anyone else with our son."

Juugo nodded. "I'll let Sasuke know as soon as I get there about the situation here. It'll take a few days to get back to the Gelel Continent from here even using our chakra-powered ships and some more time to find Sasuke. Just try to stall as long as possible. Sasuke will be able to use his space-time ninjutsu to get here immediately in case fight breaks out with Naruto."

Karin nodded. "Hopefully, I'm just being overly paranoid. Naruto doesn't seem to have noticed anything wrong. But there's no way I'm going to bet the life of my son on that."

She wouldn't. There was nothing more important in this world than her son. She would die a hundred times before she let anyone harm little Itachi.

* * *

AN: I'm slowly beginning to show Konoha becoming suspicious of Naruto. It'll be a while before they figure it out so you'll just have to deal with the confusion from those in Konoha for now.

More fluff in this chapter. This story is, after all, listed as romance. So you'll see it pop up here and there.

Also, Hanabi's okay with Naruto taking multiple partners! That means it's harem time!

Sakura! Hinata! Ino! Kurenai! Anko! Go harem! By your girls combined, Naruto is Captain Harem! Captain Harem, he's our hero! Gonna take monogamy down to zero!

Okay, no. Unfortunately, you won't be getting a harem. I never really understood harem stories, especially considering that most of the girls in Narutoverse would kill any other girl trying to make a move on their guy. I tried to emphasize that in the dialogue between Naruto and Hanabi. For you guys out there, ask your girlfriends if they're willing to "share" you. I guarantee the response will be a slap to the face.

And please...stop PMing me about Naruto x Hinata. Rolls eyes. There are 341,000+ Naruto stories out there. The vast majority of them are Naruto x Hinata ones.


	18. Murphy's Law - Scouting the Moon

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. This is fanfiction, after all.

* * *

**Hotel Resort, Land of the Moon – April 18, AK 22**

Hanabi woke up from her bed, sore from the previous night's activities, and groaned in satisfaction as she stretched her arms. The soreness in the mornings that came after their evening activities was beginning to get better each passing day, but it was still uncomfortable, although that was not nearly as unsettling as the fact that Naruto still managed to, in his words, "tame" her every single night without even trying.

She still felt rather embarrassed about it. Maybe Naruto was right when he said that she was far too infatuated with him to think properly.

She was glad that she hadn't fallen so far as to start screaming in bed for him. Hanabi flushed at that. Hanabi Uzumaki most certainly _was not_ a screamer.

She shook her head at that and briefly wondered if the strong-willed pink-haired kunoichi used to beg as well. Her mood immediately plummeted.

_Not too far in their relationship, my ass!_ she snorted. _Naruto knows far too much about what to do in bed. If Haruno weren't already dead, I'd kill her myself for having been his first._

Shaking away that unpleasant thought, not even admitting that she probably _wasn't _strong enough to kill the legendary pink-haired girl, she turned to wake Naruto and found herself the lone occupant of the large bed, even though it was very early in the morning. There wasn't even a note.

Feeling slightly hurt, but figuring that Naruto was intentionally pushing her buttons after her declaration of love to test her conviction, she got up and prepared for her day. She took solace in Naruto's words the previous night. He had promised to be committed to her. For now, that was all she needed.

She could be patient until he opened up his heart.

* * *

**Public streets, Land of the Moon – April 18, AK 22**

Naruto frowned as he walked throughout the capital city in Sage Mode, ignoring the vendors who cried out to him to buy some of their products. He was still dressed in the traditional Japanese clothes to not tip off anyone that he was on a mission, including his own wife, but he was trying to look for some clues as to what was wrong. He could feel a couple massive signals of chakra near King Michiri, but that was expected since a few Getsuga ninjas were bound to be around him.

And if King Michiri had given him a distress signal, it was likely that all of them were traitors or unable to act.

Naruto slowly let Sage Mode die out. Naruto was slightly frustrated at this point. He had never used the sensory abilities of Sage Mode to this degree. While he could sense everyone in a certain radius, his brain still had to keep up with all the input. It was like looking at a 10 meter wide painting from a distance of ten centimeters away. Everything technically was visible, but it was hard to actually pinpoint anything unless he looked in a particular direction. At this point, he didn't have a clue where to start.

Naruto walked around for a bit longer looking for non-chakra based clues.

Naruto frowned when he still came up with nothing. None of the people seemed to think anything was wrong. Everyone seemed perfectly happy to just be outside.

Suddenly remembering that he had forgotten to leave Hanabi a note telling her to spend the day shopping with her attendants, he formed a hand sign.

"Shadow clone technique," Naruto said softly.

Hanabi would not be pleased that he had left and even less pleased that he was sending a shadow clone to deliver the message. But this mission took priority. If Michiru was that desperate to request his aid, then there was something big. Michiru had an entire village at his disposal and was either unable or unwilling to ask for its help.

Naruto turned to his clone. "You know the drill."

His clone nodded. "Yup, if Hanabi doesn't suspect that I'm a shadow clone, then I apologize for _you_ leaving so hastily in the morning and spend the rest of the day with her shopping. In other words, I do all the apologizing for your damn mistakes. Got it."

Naruto rolled his eyes at his clone's comments. "Oh shut up. If anything goes wrong, create another clone and dispel it so I can get the memories. Just hold on for the two seconds that it'll take me to reach you." Naruto turned to leave. "Oh and don't tell her that you're a shadow clone on purpose."

"Awww, but I wanted to prank you," his clone whined.

Naruto slapped his forehead. "Something must be wrong with me if I want to prank myself. Ugh, my clones are such idiots."

"Well, I'm you after all. So if I'm an idiot, you only have yourself to blame," his clone smirked.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm an idiot. I've come to terms with it a long time ago," Naruto said in a resigned tone and waved his hand in the air. "Just go and keep her happy."

Naruto watched as his clone disappeared.

Sage Mode was no go. Kyuubi Mode only let him feel killing intent and danger with in a certain radius. It wasn't quite as useful for wide range sensory missions. Furthermore, Naruto was not in any immediate danger and there might not be any _real_ danger present in the entire island. So his Kyuubi Mode was probably useless. On top of that, everyone in the vicinity would feel the chakra pressure rolling off of him, which was not a good idea when he was trying to secretly find out who was causing trouble.

"I guess it's just going to have to be the old fashioned way," Naruto held his hands in a familiar sign. "Multi Shadow Clone technique!"

Naruto looked at the thousand clones he summoned. "All of you. Transform and look for anything suspicious. Feel free to use Sage Mode but don't use Kyuubi Mode! We don't want to alert the entire world we're here."

* * *

**Underground Shopping Mall, Land of the Moon – April 18, AK 22**

Hanabi went from store to store with a small smile on her face. She had chosen to be frugal and spend only on what she knew she would wear but also chose to be generous and all but ordered for her attendants to buy themselves and the children whatever they wanted.

The three mothers in the group protested loudly before the children squealed in delight and started demanding for different items. Smiling victoriously at the three, she motioned for them to go purchase the items.

"You're very kind, Lady Hanabi," her last female attendant, a young woman a little over three years older than her (and about a year and half younger than Naruto), said from behind her as they watched the three mothers fussing with their toddlers. "Our past experiences with nobles have not been so…pleasant."

"Thank your master, not me," Hanabi murmured honestly, "it is on his orders that I do this, Sasame. And besides, it's his money, not mine."

The older girl shook her head. "From what we have already learned about Master Naruto, he would not have married you unless you had a kind heart yourself. I do not believe you do this solely because Lord Naruto wishes it."

Hanabi appreciated the gesture, but Hanabi figured it was because her female attendants knew that she wasn't in a good mood. They had all seen that she was a bit upset in the morning when Naruto had disappeared without a word and were making attempts to be extra nice and polite to her throughout the day.

As other three female attendants were finished with the shopping, Hanabi reached into her robes and withdrew a scrolling seal to seal whatever the kids were not immediately about to use.

She held up a hand sign. "Seal!" and then labeled the scroll before handing it to Kaien, one of her male retainers.

As she walked she throughout the mall, asking her attendants for advice on what to wear and what household items to buy, she thought about Naruto's rather unusual behavior.

She would have expected him to be a lot more playful for the first few days here, but immediately after meeting the king, Naruto appeared almost as if he was on a mission.

Then there was his "apology" in case something went wrong. If Naruto was right and something did always go wrong, then perhaps there was something else in play here. No matter how much Naruto was trying to prove a point to her, disappearing for four hours without any word was a bit too much. If he had wanted to send a message that she was being too attached to him, he would have come back in an hour and used her immediate happiness at seeing him as proof of her increasing emotional dependence on him.

Hanabi frowned. _There's something wrong and Naruto's hiding it from me._

She pulled her hands into a sign. _Byakugan!_

Hanabi's vision instantly changed from seeing colors to black and white with chakra flow. She frowned when she didn't see him anywhere in a one-kilometer radius. She switched to her telescopic view and manually scanned all around her for a few minutes to see if she could scout him out.

Nothing. Naruto wasn't in the area at all. There were many people around so she technically _could_ have missed him, but his chakra signature was rather unique. He wasn't anywhere in a 10 kilometer radius.

She suddenly saw him appear out of nowhere and nearly jumped. _Space-time ninjutsu?!_

"Yo! Hanabi! How's the shopping going?"

Hanabi deactivated her Byakugan and turned to see Naruto appear around a corner and wave at her with an apologetic look.

"Good to see you, Naruto," she said as sweetly as she could. "I missed you all morning."

Despite herself, she couldn't keep the happiness out of her voice. He _was_ her husband and she was simply happy to see him, even if she was a few moments away from letting him feel her ire.

"Sorry, I had some business I had to take care of in the morning. Something for King Michiru."

Naruto smiled and held out his hand for her to hold.

Hanabi's eyes narrowed slightly. He was being a little too nice to her for someone who was trying to prove a point. She looked at his eyes intently.

Guilt.

Hanabi mentally groaned. Did her husband simply _forget_ to leave a note? Well, she would find out.

"Naruto dear, you could have told me that you were busy. You made me worry about you! People just don't disappear on their honeymoons like that! You could have at least left a note, you know."

More guilt. There was even panic in his eyes.

"Ah…well…about that…" Naruto started backing away in fear. "I…I was…distracted! You were so pretty that I was…um…really distracted!"

Well, well, well...

Naruto hadn't even been trying to prove a point in the first place.

That meant she had the upper hand here.

Hanabi grinned evilly as their retainers started smacking their foreheads with their hands at Naruto's pathetic attempt at appeasement. The tables have turned. She would make _him_ pay for making her suffer all morning.

Hanabi was suddenly hit by a brilliant idea. Yes, that would do very nicely.

She gave him another sweet smile. "Well, then I'm sure you wouldn't mind doing your really pretty wife a favor," she said in the most innocent tone she could muster.

Naruto nodded vigorously. "Anything for my little firecracker! I can carry your bags," he looked around and saw no bags, "or accompany you?" he finished lamely.

She grinned evilly. "No, but you can model for me. There are certain clothes that I want to buy for you. Oh and no orange!"

The groan that came from him was music to her ears.

As Naruto turned around, Hanabi frowned, knowing there was something more to the situation. Naruto was being too compliant. And even his "panic" seemed a bit forced. And besides, if Naruto had truly forgotten to inform her that he was going somewhere, then there was something big going on. He wouldn't neglect his wife for just some silly little business.

_Flashback_

"_There's going to be something that goes wrong on our trip. Probably a fight or a conspiracy or something," he sighed. "Granny Tsunade called it Kami's way of getting back to me for having the devil's luck in everything. Since this is our final spot and since nothing happened on our trip so far, I'm pretty sure something will happen here."_

"_So it wasn't just rumors when people said you attract trouble?"_

_Naruto shook his head. "It's like the rule of our universe or something. If I'm involved with something, something must go wrong so I can fix it. Murphy's Rule applied to Narutoverse or something like that. That's what the Pervy Sage said. He said I was the Chosen Child of Prophecy for a reason."_

_Flashback End_

The realization hit her like a hammer.

There _was_ something big going on.

Naruto was probably keeping her out of the loop so as to not ruin the honeymoon. This Naruto in front of her…was most likely a shadow clone.

* * *

**Main Pier/Customs, Land of the Moon – April 18, AK 22**

Naruto stepped up to the counter with a bright smile.

"How may I help you?" the clerk asked.

"You have records of all the people who came and out of the country for the last year, right?"

The clerk raised an eyebrow and gestured to a thick book on the counter. "Yes, that's expected since this is customs, but why are you—"

"Temple of Nirvana Technique," Naruto intoned lightly as he held up a hand sign. "Sleep."

Everyone in the building fell asleep in the next few seconds and Naruto created several transformed shadow clones to stand outside and tell people that the building was on lockdown for the next ten or so minutes because of an emergency.

As he grabbed the book, he mentally admitted to himself that his current idea was a long shot since foreign ninjas almost always used fake passports, but Naruto had no other leads at this point unless he wanted to storm King Michiru's castle.

And he wasn't exactly looking for specific names among the thousands of people who entered and left over the last year. He just wanted to confirm if there was something suspicious.

Naruto held the very thick book in his hand and made a single shadow clone while sending an apologetic look towards the unconscious workers who were now snoring lightly.

As his shadow clone immediately shadow stepped away to the nearest forest, he canceled the technique with a quick chakra pulse and disappeared to where his clone was.

In an instant, two thousand copies of himself and the book popped up into existence.

"Each of you look at a single page and memorize it before dispelling."

Never let it be said that shadow clones that popped after one hit were useless. They were the ultimate tools to speed up tasks.

Currently, Naruto was looking for _one-way_ visitors who never left the kingdom _and_ didn't apply for citizenship/residency in the kingdom. King Michiru seemed terrified so it was likely that he was actively being threatened. Usually, even if foreign ninjas entered, they usually used an alias instead of just using genjutsu to fool the customs workers. It made infiltration much more effective without the use of any chakra. While it did leave a paper trail to follow, it also raised fewer eyebrows.

One-by-one, the clones dispersed.

A _very _familiar name entered his head.

_Temujin Khan_

_Entered: March 18_

Naruto dispelled the rest of his clones, not caring that they didn't finish memorizing the rest of the names. He already had what he was looking for. Because the clones hadn't had time to process too much information, he wasn't knocked unconscious by the sudden stream of memories.

It was just his luck because he would have welcomed a nice long rest before having to think about the issue at hand.

Naruto knew who was being King Michiru's fear. He knew just _who_ was on the Gelel Continent and it wasn't Temujin.

_Tch. So THAT was the strange feeling I had yesterday. _

_Flashback_

_"This isn't a matter of you being rewarded, Naruto!" The king's tone became softer. "It is also for Our own conscience and honor. Our father has given Us a mission not only take care of this land but to be a just and fair ruler. To not pay Our debts to you would be an insult to Our father's memory. So if not for yourself, then do it for Us." Naruto could sense Hanabi flushing as King Michiru gaze at her before looking at him. "And do think of the wife as well." His eyes briefly flickered towards the hallway where Queen Amayo had just been. "We think you were close to giving her a heart attack. A month's stay at some of Our resorts could completely destroy a small clan's finances."_

_End Flashback_

Naruto cursed inwardly.

The Queen Amayo he saw yesterday had been an imposter.

He wasn't a sensor outside of Sage Mode, but given that he didn't sense _any_ chakra from Queen Amayo yesterday, it had to have been Karin. No one else but Sakura had such _unreal_ levels of chakra control to completely mask their chakra like that _while_ using a technique.

That didn't make him feel any better, however. He still had made a rookie mistake.

It was his job to suspect everyone and anyone. He should have known something was off the moment she avoided making eye contact with him. He should have been able to smell her fear and nervousness. He had all ignored that because he had been too focused on King Michiru.

Naruto slammed a fist into a nearby tree and watched it fall down.

Naruto took a few deep breaths to calm down.

He had to get out of honeymoon mode. He needed to be Naruto Uzumaki who had done more S-rank missions than anyone else in the history of the Elemental Nations.

Naruto sighed as he looked up at the sky as the small scrapes on his fist rapidly healed up.

"So looks like we're meeting again, Sasuke..."

* * *

**Beach, Land of the Moon – April 18, AK 22**

Naruto slowly walked towards Hanabi who was wearing a light blue beach dress, waiting for him.

Naruto had tried to scout Karin out with Sage Mode and even risked using Kyuubi Mode to no avail. The girl was just too skilled as masking her chakra and she wasn't releasing any sort of negative emotions at the moment he had checked. If anything, she was giving off _less_ negative emotions than the damn merchants all over the kingdom looking to cheat unsuspecting tourists.

It was now evening and he had just replaced the shadow clone with himself and switched into the beachwear left behind by the clone. The clone and Hanabi had sent their servants back to the hotel so they could get some privacy to themselves.

Just as he reached her, she struck at him with a Gentle Fist strike.

"Wow, there firecracker," Naruto said as he sidestepped the blow and moved around her in one motion. He wrapped his arms around her waist, before jumping away when the girl tried to hit him with chakra bursts from the chakra points in her back. "Hey!" he yelled, "What's the big idea?"

"Are you a shadow clone?" Hanabi growled.

Naruto groaned. She had caught him red-handed. "No, I'm not. I just came here and dispelled my shadow clone. Although I'm sure you already knew that. You probably watched the entire switch with your Byakugan."

"At least you're honest with me. That's a point for you. It'll make your punishment lighter."

Naruto knew he could beat her down in less than a second, but he was feeling strangely intimidated by his relatively tiny 163-cm (5'4") wife and kept backing away from the advancing girl. In fact, he was backing away from her in the exact same manner when his shadow clone had first accosted her at the underground mall.

"How did you figure me out?" he asked, continuing to walk backwards.

"Because it's you."

"Huh?" Naruto looked at her curiously. "What does that mean?"

Naruto had reached a wall and couldn't back up further. He supposed he could teleport out of there, but some strange reason, he couldn't move. He groaned internally. _Ugh. It's already happening. I'm so whipped…I hate whoever designed our entire race…it's painful to be a man._

"I don't think Naruto Uzumaki is the type of person to leave his wife in the morning for a few hours without even something as little as a note. People might think you're an airhead, but I know that's just a little façade you put up to deal with the villagers. The only way you would have forgotten to let me know is if you're distracted. There's something going on."

Naruto was mildly surprised by his wife's perceptiveness, but he wasn't going to give ground on this. Even though Naruto wasn't able to detect Sasuke's unique chakra signature on the island, Sasuke had access to space-time ninjutsu techniques and could arrive at any moment.

From the records, it looked like someone who had come in with "Temujin" had left earlier that morning. It was a man's name so he suspected it was Juugo. Karin was still probably on the island to take care of business while Juugo left to warn Sasuke.

Naruto quickly wracked his memories for the intelligence reports that Sai and Hokuto had provided him on the capabilities of Sasuke's forces. Naruto did some mental calculations. Sasuke's most modern ships would take a few days to get to the Gelel Continent.

So he had some time to prepare his move.

But first, he had to diffuse the situation with his wife.

He sighed. "Okay, just punish me quickly and then I can explain."

_But not everything._ _Not a chance, dear. _

It would be a cold day in hell when Naruto willingly let his wife get involved and get hurt because of Sasuke.

Naruto went on, "I really did forget. And besides," Naruto shrugged, "it looks like you had me model all day. I wanted to avoid that."

Hanabi looked murderous at that explanation. Naruto gulped at her expression. She was about to blow. "I'll give you one more try to tell me the truth."

Naruto mentally sighed. He _did_ tell Hanabi that it was likely that there would be a problem on the island when they first got there. She was most likely suspecting something was up because of his statement. She wasn't an idiot, after all.

He found himself cursing himself for telling her in the first place. He wanted to keep her on guard, but if he had known that Sasuke was here, then he would have kept her in the dark with a shadow clone nearby to shadow step her away at a moment's notice.

He took a deep breath. With her eyes, which were now activated, she would be able to tell if he was lying to her.

Very well, then.

He wouldn't lie.

"I went to customs today to check up if any suspicious people were on the island. I did tell you yesterday that there would be a problem so I'm on the lookout in case something happens."

There. No lie. He just gave her the least amount of detail as possible.

Hanabi's eyes remained hard. "And I suppose that would explain why the advisors inside King Michiru's palace have a subtle genjutsu placed on them."

Naruto mentally smacked himself. Hanabi had been proactive and had done her own investigation with her Byakugan.

But his resolve only hardened at that.

"You're not getting involved," he said firmly, no longer caring to hide the truth from her.

She ignored him and pressed on. "Things were being run by a large man and a woman with glasses. The advisors report to the woman so I'm suspecting she's the boss behind whatever it is that's going on. I saw both of them threatening the king earlier today. The large one left today with a baby and the woman with the glasses stayed behind." She gave him a sharp look. "Shall I go on? The large man was doing a good job of suppressing his chakra so if you were using Sage Mode earlier, you might not have sensed him. The woman on the other hand appears to be a civilian. Her chakra circulatory system wasn't being used in the slightest, except for vital life functions."

That sounded like Juugo and Karin.

And his hypothesis of Juugo leaving had been right. That meant that Sasuke really wasn't on the island. Karin apparently wasn't taking any chances either because she had sent her son away as well. She was expecting a fight.

Naruto looked impassively at his wife and considered whether he should send her back home as well.

It didn't matter if he just took out Karin here and left. That would only end up pissing Sasuke off and Sasuke would come raving for revenge. That would put Hanabi at even greater risk.

Naruto sighed. This was going to be difficult. He had to take Sasuke out.

"I won't deny that there is trouble, but you're still not getting involved."

"Do you think I'm _weak_?" she hissed. "I'm an A-rank elite! I'm in the ranks of the hundred strongest ninjas in the world right now."

Naruto frowned. She was strong. There was no doubt about that. But even her level of strength was pitiful compared to Sasuke's level of strength. It may be unfair that he had the ultimate cheat in the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, but Sasuke was one of the top hundred strongest ninjas _ever to have existed_. And Sasuke wasn't anywhere near the bottom of that list either. There was no way Hanabi stood a chance in a battle against Sasuke. She was _pathetically _weak compared to someone on his or Sasuke's level, but he wasn't going to tell her that.

But at the same time, it didn't seem like Hanabi would drop this. So Naruto would have to play along for now. "It's not about just your level of strength," Naruto wanted to wince for telling a half-truth, "I don't want to screw over our honeymoon with something like this. There is a chance that you might get involved," another half-truth, since Naruto had no intention of letting her fight Sasuke, "but I didn't want you to be sucked in this early, especially with how happy you were earlier while shopping. I promise to let you know if anything new happens."

That seemed to mollify her.

_But I didn't promise to tell you what I know now. A battle is almost inevitable, so I'm going to have to keep you away once Sasuke gets here._

"You ruined my day the moment you left me alone!" she scolded. "I thought you were trying to prove a point about how I was too obsessed about you or something. Do you know how hurt I was when I woke up in a cold bed _alone_?"

"I…I hadn't thought about that," Naruto admitted, relaxing a little now that the situation was temporarily defused. And besides, he really hadn't thought of her feelings. He had been too concerned with figuring out what the situation on the island was. Another mistake. He really needed to be perceptive at all times. Even now, he still had a tendency to have tunnel vision when stressed. "I'm sorry."

"Even though you might view me as a cold former Hyuuga princess, I am still a girl. I'm still _sensitive_," his wife claimed as she leaned forward and looked at him. Naruto almost snorted at the sight of her big and sparkling eyes. The cute look _might _have worked if she were ten years younger. "I have my insecurities you know. I might be stronger, but Hinata is prettier and is much more feminine than I could ever hope to be. Do you know what it was like growing up with all the boys looking at her and not me? I didn't let any of it show, but it really stung when people would always comment on how pretty she was. I, on the other hand, never heard that once in my entire life. It was one of the reasons why it was so much easier to pour myself into my training."

"No one's ever had a crush on you?" Naruto asked with some interest. No matter what Hanabi thought, she was still gorgeous. Perhaps she didn't have a fragile appearance, but that was expected for a kunoichi. You really couldn't have everything in life.

"There were a few I suppose," she conceded. "One of them recently died."

"Ah, on that mission with that S-rank," Naruto said knowingly. There was more to that mission, but he didn't want to tell her what he knew just yet.

"Yeah. I never knew that S-ranked ninjas were that frightening. He didn't even kill any of us, but he made us feel helpless just by standing there."

Naruto snorted. "It doesn't seem like you're scared of me at all though. Right now, you just made me back up like a mouse cornered by a cat. And I'm an S-rank, too. Maybe you should channel some of the fear and respect towards me."

"Tch. Why should I fear and respect the person I married? Especially when I married that person to be protected? It's not like my own shield can hurt me."

Naruto laughed. Even while infatuated and falling in love, the girl was still honest with herself about why she agreed to marry him. "Don't you think that's hurtful to me? That all I'm good for is to protect you from your family and S-ranked threats?"

"Perhaps," she admitted. "There were other reasons that made the decision much easier, you know. Your compassion, your insight…there's just this mysterious aura about you. And technically, you're the one who proposed. So you're not supposed to complain about my reasons. Especially when I'm in love with you now."

"Ah yes, of course," he teased lightly. "I distinctly remember you moaning how much you loved me yesterday night in bed."

She blushed brightly at the memory. "Oh, be quiet. Like you said, it's the first time I'm in any sort of relationship. I'm entitled to acting a bit like a fangirl for some time."

Naruto chuckled. "Alright, I can live with that. As long as it's _temporary_."

She nodded with a bright blush. "Anyway, for what it's worth, I'm sorry," she apologized. "I can't say I truly regret any of it, but I still feel horrible for taking you away from my sister and marrying you purely to protect myself. I thought I was strong, but after my experience with that S-rank," Naruto felt her shudder, "I realize I'm still just a little girl in a world of monsters."

Naruto couldn't help but note the irony. She was legitimately afraid of S-ranks, yet she was unknowingly demanding to get into a fight with a powerful S-rank _monster_.

"We're being quite open today, aren't we?" Naruto said softly, not commenting on the fact that she unintentionally implied that he was a monster as well. "No layers in your words whatsoever."

It was just the two of them. They were far away from home and away from prying eyes. It was one of the rare times they could keep their emotional guards down, even around each other.

"Too tired of it," Hanabi said as she wrapped her arms around him. "I decided to be completely honest and open with you. I stand by what I said. If you want to kill me, then I'll hand my life over to you with a smile. People might call me a fool, but I think it's even more foolish not to place your trust in the person you're using as a shield, right?"

"I suppose," Naruto agreed, once again surprised by her trust in him. "Although I hope that I'll become a bit more than your shield as we get to know one another over the next few years."

Hanabi's arms tightened. "I understand. You want us to become soul-mates. Not just lovers. You want something more. Two halves of one soul. Yeah. I hope we get there someday." She paused. "And I want to let you know that I took in what you told me yesterday. I…I wasn't…as hurt as I could have been this morning because I remembered your promise to be committed to me." Naruto felt the girl pull him forward as she swung herself around to place herself onto his back. "Still, I'm going to milk this as much as possible." She said from behind him as she positioned herself for a piggyback ride, "It's not everyday that I get to be treated like one of the girly and fragile princesses you read about in novels instead of the former princess of the Hyuuga clan."

Naruto nodded and chuckled as he walked forward. He had been insensitive, so he had no qualms about letting Hanabi have her way for some time. And it would be his way of apologizing for hiding stuff from her and keeping her out of battle later on. "Sure, why not? I guess it'll be a good excuse to pamper you. And a good master takes really good care of his beloved servant."

Naruto winced when he felt chakra blaze below his chin from his wife's arms. The message was clear. She could cut off his head at any time if she chose to. "It's princess, not servant…and unless you want to find yourself without a head, play nice."

Naruto laughed lightly as the chakra faded. "Such a fiery little one. Hanabi is such an apt name for you."

"You're really fixated on my name, aren't you? You keep mentioning it over and over again."

"Names are what give us our identity," Naruto explained sagely. "It tells us a lot about what our parents hoped we would become and how we react to those expectations. My parents named me Naruto because the Pervy Sage wrote about a character named Naruto who never gave up despite facing hopeless odds. They wanted me to become someone who fought for peace without ever stopping."

"I...I didn't know that," Hanabi admitted. "I just thought it was because your mother loved ramen. That's what my father told me, at least. He told me he was acquainted with her."

"Yeah, I'm sure that was part of it, too," Naruto laughed. "I was told many times that much of my outward personality and much of my preferences are like hers," Naruto admitted. "The only thing I inherited from my father is my appearance."

"Modest, now, are we?" Hanabi laughed. "You're not going to mention intelligence, power, talent, and kindness?"

Naruto shook his head sadly. "My father was a natural genius. I only became amazing because of my efforts. You try working the equivalent of several thousand years by spamming shadow clones. You'd get pretty strong and incredibly smart too." He paused. "You should know just how pathetic I am from that. It took me several thousand years' worth of effort to become an S-rank. If my father had the ability to abuse shadow clones like I can, I shudder to think how powerful he could have been. He probably could have brought peace to this world long ago."

There was a long silence. Naruto just walked alongside the water for a few minutes doing nothing but taking in Hanabi's presence. Her hair, her warmth, her scent, the shape of her body—he took it all in. This was the girl he was now emotionally bonded to for life. There wasn't love just yet, but perhaps he could let her into his heart little by little.

It was some time before his wife spoke. "So tell me," she asked. "What's the situation? I know you're still holding back information. I've been with you day and night for the last few weeks. I know when you're lying and when you're not being completely open with me."

A tense pause.

"Very well," he relented. If worse came to worst, he would just shadow step her out of danger. "I've spent a lot of time with Michiru before so I know his mannerisms and habits pretty well. More importantly, he knows that I know. So Michiru was able to hint to me that there was something going on," Naruto explained.

"So he told you in code because someone in the palace was watching. I'm guessing it's the girl with the glasses. By the way, she's currently holding the queen and the prince hostage."

He didn't know that. So Hikaru _wasn't_ away from the kingdom. He and Queen Amayo were hostages.

Naruto wanted to growl. So that was how Hanabi was going to play the game. The more he explained about the situation, the more she would reveal what she knew.

He wondered what other bits of information she was currently keeping from him.

"Not code, necessarily. But just the fact that he was worried about something. He had to mix it in with his normal mannerisms, presumably for the reason that you stated. I've managed to pick out some clues from what he said though. The problem is inherently financial and from what we have learned, there is some extortion going on. Unfortunately, it's not just paying ransom or whatever to ensure his family lives. I could tell that the threat is enough to, in his words, 'completely destroy' the entire kingdom." He stopped to shift her up higher on his back. "Perhaps even enough to destroy the entire Elemental Nations," he added as an afterthought.

"That bad?" Hanabi winced. "That sounds pretty serious."

"King Michiri is extremely wealthy. The Land of the Moon has more money than three of the great villages combined. If someone is threatening King Michiru for money, it can't be for something small. And King Michiru also had elites protecting him at all times. We're most likely dealing with an S-rank threat."

He hoped that his statement would hint to her that she was outclassed here.

"Well, you're an S-rank _among _S-ranks so we'll be fine, right?"Naruto felt like groaning at that. She was using him as her panacea to everything that threatened her.

"Let's hope you're right. Don't forget that even S-ranks can be fooled and taken down when their guards are down." Naruto painfully remembered overlooking the fact that Karin was in disguise. And further back, he remembered being taken off guard by Sakura when she had snuck into his house. "I'm strong but I'm not infallible. I make mistakes, too."

Hanabi sobered up at that. "Well, I'll be your backup then. I know you said your Sage Mode gives you amazing sensory abilities, but my eyes can actually see things. I won't let you be taken off-guard. Let me help, Naruto."

Naruto nodded. _But not for fighting._ "Well then, let's spend the next few days scouting out the place with your eyes and my Sage Mode and in a few days, we'll make our move."

* * *

**Raikage's Secret Study, Kumo – April 20, AK 22**

"Lord Raikage, sorry to disturb you, but I have word from our Hyuuga contact," Darui said as he stepped in the Raikage's secret room.

"Oh?" Darui lowered his head formally as the Raikage turned towards him with a scowl. "What did that Sakuma say?"

Darui handed his leader the folder with the information sent to them by the traitorous Hyuuga. "I just came back from talking with Sakuma Hyuuga. He claims that he can guarantee that Hinata Hyuuga will be out of the village exactly ten days from today. It was the day we agreed upon to carry out the operation. You'll see details in the folder there."

Darui waited as the Raikage examined the information.

"I'm satisfied with the information. For all his faults, the damn kin traitor is clever. He created a dummy company in the Land of Frost and used that to request a mission that required a scouting team with a Sarutobi on it. The Sarutobi clan generally can operate anywhere there are trees, but the particular types of monkeys they are bonded with live in mountains with heavy forests. It would not be strange to request a Sarutobi for a B-rank mission in the Land of Frost. The official complaint was that unknown ninja enemies were using hit-and-run tactics to steal company goods."

Darui hadn't looked at the folder himself so he didn't understand what was so great about the idea.

"Lord Raikage, forgive my impudence, but how does that guarantee that the Hyuuga heiress is out of the village? The request only asked for a Sarutobi."

His leader snorted. "Because the Sarutobi clan members are generally not scouts. They're good at fighting and setting up ambushes but not particularly good at scouting. The Hyuuga clan _are_. There is also a huge bonus involved if a Hyuuga comes along. The only thing here is that despite their skilling scouting and tracking, most Hyuuga are not considered scouts. The Hyuuga clan regularly sends requests to have the Hokage's office pull Hyuuga members from scouting teams, saying that such assignments are beneath them. Konoha has no shortages of trackers—mostly members of the Aburame and Inuzuka clans—so most Hyuuga are assigned to combat teams where they fill the roles of a scout and a fighter at the same time. It is why many Konoha's teams are so well balanced and hard to ambush."

Darui was able to put the pieces together. "Hinata Hyuuga. I see! She must be the only regular scout amongst the Hyuuga."

The Raikage laughed. "What a joke! For all their talks of being the strongest fighters in Konoha, their heiress is only listed as a scout! Even their Branch House members are all listed as combatants!"

"Isn't that a problem then?" Darui frowned. Perhaps that was why the Hyuuga elder didn't mind giving up the girl. She must have a weak Byakugan.

"What are you talking about?" the Raikage roared with laughter. "I don't care if her fighting capabilities are weak; I'm much more interested in the capabilities of the Byakugan itself. Sakuma is clearly thinking that he is getting rid of trash from his clan, but he fails to see that a scout's eye is generally much better than a combatant's eye! I'm willing to bet that Hinata Hyuuga's eyes can see further than any other Hyuuga in history. Haha. What an idiot! They pride themselves on seeing the chakra points in the body but fail to realize just how invaluable seeing enemies from afar is. How ironic that his Hyuuga pride blinds him to the truth."

Darui thought about that as his leader continued to chuckle uncontrollably. If he actually thought about the situation, Sakuma also initially had planned on handing over the second heiress. So it was unlikely that there was something wrong with the first heiress' Byakugan since she hadn't been the planned "gift" to Kumo. But at the same time, it meant that Sakuma was willing to throw away both a scout's eyes and a combatant's eyes. There was something else going on here.

"What are we to do about her teammates?" Darui asked curiously. "While Sakuma may be able to create a buffer against Konoha's response to the Hyuuga heiress disappearing, the situation could become extremely messy if we kill a Sarutobi as well, especially if that Sarutobi ends up being someone important in the clan. And there's still no guarantee that the Hyuuga heiress will be sent. During the war, I recall that many Branch House members were in scouting teams even if they were officially listed as combatants."

"It's not a problem. Sakuma plans on making most of the Branch House Hyuuga members who are active ninjas request for vacation time during that entire week so they could help 'prepare for a celebration.' It's a perfect plan. Nothing would look suspicious because it would be natural for the Hyuuga clan to have a welcome home party for the second princess who is returning from her honeymoon."

"Konoha might not take the bonus to keep the first heiress safe," Darui pointed out.

The Raikage snorted. "The official mission request was written to downplay the danger as much as possible. It just appears as if a company is overreacting and wants to be completely sure. Konoha is definitely going to take what appears to be free money. They're tree-hugging idiots, but they love money as much as we do military power. It has been like that since the Third Hokage's second reign. They use that money for welfare and safety-net programs to keep their citizens happy and loyal."

Darui nodded. "Will there be any changes to our original plans?"

"No, just scout out the designated area near the Land of Frost and prepare plans for ambush. Sakuma projects that Hinata Hyuuga and Konohamaru Sarutobi will be sent with two others, most likely chuunin."

"Konohamaru Sarutobi?" Darui asked. "An _elite_ for a B-rank mission?"

"You mentioned it yourself. Konoha will not want to risk sending the Hyuuga heiress out. But since all the Branch House members will be too busy, Hinata will be the only choice. To compensate, they will send someone fairly strong as protection."

"Konohamaru Sarutobi is more than just fairly strong, Lord Raikage," Darui said in a somewhat worried tone. "In pure power alone, he's borderline S-rank. He could cause some problems."

"Nonsense," the Raikage said loudly. "You, Karui, Omoi and Shee are more than enough to take care of them. You will have _three _A-ranks and an S-rank to take care of _one_ A-rank. Even if they were to send two other elites with the Hyuuga and Sarutobi, your team should crush them." Darui stood proudly as the Raikage held up his one arm. "Darui, you're my second right hand, one that I can send away from my body and out into the world. You're the third strongest warrior in the strongest village in the Elemental Nations. I expect success."

Darui lowered his head. "Of course, Lord Raikage. You should expect nothing less."

"Good," the Raikage grunted. "Now, I want you to tell Mabui to create a list of some of our strongest men. We too have a wedding to prepare for."

"A wedding?" Darui raised an eyebrow. "Is that really necessary?"

"Of course, you dolt," the Raikage snarled. "Did you think we're _barbarians_? We're not going to use her as a simple breeding tool! We're going to welcome her to Kumo and start our own Hyuuga clan here. Our intelligence shows that Princess Hinata Hyuuga was neglected by her father her entire life. We will do no such thing. We will treat her like the precious princess that she is." The Raikage paused. "Actually, that stupid list might not be necessary."

"I beg your pardon, Lord Raikage?" Darui said, confused at his leader's sudden change of mind.

"Do you want to marry her, Darui?"

* * *

AN: Your second update for the day. I'm on a roll! Wheee! Remember, _don't_ hold your breath for an epic Naruto vs Sasuke next chapter. They'll meet and they'll have words, but it'll remain unresolved for the most part.

Pay attention to the POV. Just because Naruto views Hanabi as angry doesn't mean she actually is. She could be pretending to be angry to get more out of him or Naruto may just be misreading her. That also goes the other way as well. Hanabi may think Naruto is joking around when he's actually paying attention and planning ahead.

That's the entire purpose of using third person limited.

EDIT: Oh and sorry for the minor errors (usually forgetting "s" on plural words, spacing errors, or missing words that get cut off when I copy/paste portions of text while finalizing the draft). I try to get rid of them through multiple reads, but because I know the story so well, I often read over them. I've gotten worse at finding these errors lately because I'm just trying to pump out the chapters. It's a fair trade, methinks.


	19. Murphy's Law - The Encounter

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. This is fanfiction, after all.

* * *

**Crescent Moon Palace, Land of the Moon – April 21, AK 22**

Hanabi walked hand-in-hand with her husband to the Crescent Moon Palace. They had told their servants to have the day off so they wouldn't get involved in what was inevitably about to be a dangerous ninja battle.

For the last few days, she had acted as Naruto's scout as she spied on the palace from the end of her range of her Byakugan. Naruto had explained that distance was to throw off sensors who would be able to feel her using her chakra. At a distance of ten kilometers away, they could pass it off as a training exercise, which they did do as she spied on the activity in the palace.

Naruto had used his sensory abilities of his Sage Mode to supplement the information she gathered. Hanabi had insisted that the only person with an active chakra network was the large man who had left the island, but Naruto had countered that by staying that skilled sensors are able to shut their chakra network down and make themselves appear as if they were civilians.

Hanabi had been suspicious because Naruto seemed too know _too much_ about the situation, but didn't say anything. The more she pushed, the more he would pull back and that wasn't a good way to improve their relationship/marriage. She would have to give him time and space to trust her.

They were now nearing the palace grounds.

She was about to turn her Byakugan on at that moment, but Naruto shook his head.

"Don't. Not yet. The moment you use a technique unique to you or your clan at close range, your identity will be compromised"

Hanabi didn't like it, but she nodded. That last comment had all but cemented the fact that he knew who was behind this. He had admitted to going to customs, but ninjas rarely used their actual names. So just how did he know who the enemy was?

And he seemed particularly wary, almost scared even.

Just who was it that could make _Naruto Uzumaki_ scared?

Or was he scared for _her_?

She frowned. She wasn't some dead weight. Even against an S-rank threat, she would be able to provide enough support for Naruto to take whoever it was down. As long as she wasn't the one taking the lead in fighting, she could be of use.

They slowly entered the palace grounds. To not alert anyone, she and Naruto were still wearing formal clothes and pretending to be a young couple in love visiting the king. It annoyed Hanabi that her clothes were going to get trashed but there was little she could do about it. She would just have to compensate by buying at least ten new sets to replace this one robe.

That thought brought a small smile on her face. Even if she fully satisfied her curiosity about the whole experience of shopping, there was still something amazingly fulfilling about the idea of spending her husband's money.

"Yo! King Michiru!" Naruto said in a flippant tone as they entered the throne room. "I have something I need to tell you and Queen Amayo!"

Hanabi did not miss the slight widening of the king's eyes. _Crap!_ She thought. _That's not a good sign!_ Naruto instantly motioned through hand signs when the king frantically interrupted. "Naruto, don't! No ninjutsu, Naruto. This is the palace hall. I can't afford to have you use dangerous techniques that might hurt me, my family, and everyone else."

_Byakugan! _It didn't matter if the enemy knew she was using the technique. They were already caught and the enemy probably had made preparations in advance. Naruto had been right. The enemy _did_ have a skilled sensor. They had already lost the element of surprise from the very beginning.

Hanabi quickly filtered through everything she saw with her eyes and found what she was looking for.

"Naruto," she whispered, "The woman with the glasses has what appear to be twenty guards around her. Each of them are wearing some sort of armor that's preventing me from seeing their chakra flow." That was, no doubt, efforts to reduce her fighting ability. The woman in the glasses must know a sealing expert knowledgeable about the the mechanics of the Byakugan's vision. "The queen and the prince are locked up in the basement with no guards. I can see that there are seals all around the room that were probably put up this morning. I can't be certain but the patterns look similar to those on an explosive tag. The seals have chakra flowing through them and appear to be active."

"No guards?" Naruto asked.

Hanabi frowned, but nodded. It seemed that the enemy was going to use the explosive seals as leverage. But at this range, it was impossible to send a chakra signal to trigger the seals. Just what was the hell was the enemy thinking?

Naruto nodded and instantly turned gold. The light was so intense that she couldn't see the chakra flow and only saw a bright yellow light.

_This level of chakra is simply insane! _Hanabi thought as she took a step back. _Just how much chakra does he have? And his aura is suffocating!  
_

"I've been waiting for you, Naruto Uzumaki," the red-haired woman said as she entered the hall with her twenty armored soldiers. "I wanted to let you know that I was able to detect the Hyuuga using her Byakugan over the last few days. I could even tell that her Byakugan was directly towards this direction at times." Hanabi's eyes widened. It was one thing if she sensed the chakra used while the Byakugan was active. But to know which direction she was zooming in on? That kind of sensory ability was almost unheard of! Just who was this woman? Even now, her chakra flow appeared to be like a civilian's. Not even the Fifth Hokage and Sakura Haruno were able to manipulate their chakra flow to that degree. "King Michiru, initially, I had thought that there was a small possibility that Naruto was training the Hyuuga to improve the range of her Byakugan as she practiced looking in multiple directions. That was why I had spared your family. But as they are here now, I am assuming that you gave them some sort of message. So as I warned, the lives of your son and wife are forfeit. You were not supposed to obtain outside help."

From the growl she heard from her husband, she knew that he was familiar with the redhead.

_Very _familiar.

"Hello, Karin."

"Hello cousin," the girl calmly replied. Hanabi looked disbelievingly at Naruto. This woman was his cousin? Since when did he have living relatives? It explained everything, however. That was how Naruto had known that there was a sensor. That was why he had been so on edge.

Hanabi blinked as the woman undid the block on her chakra system and saw her reserves rise rapidly. Hanabi gasped. While it was nowhere close to what Naruto had, the woman had larger reserves than Hanabi did.

Karin gestured in her direction, "It looks like you picked up something nice, Naruto." Hanabi narrowed her eyes at being referred to as an object. "Not bad. Probably makes up for your deficiencies in intelligence and perceptiveness. You probably wouldn't have figured out we were here without her Byakugan."

Naruto laughed mirthlessly, despite having his intelligence questioned. "You've become quite the daring girl, Karin. Since when did you become bold enough to insult a stronger enemy when Sasuke wasn't around to protect you? Don't even try to bluff on that. Hanabi and I scouted the entire island. He isn't here to protect you. And apparently, neither is Juugo."

Hanabi's eyes narrowed at the names. Naruto hadn't been worried because of this woman in front of them.

He had been worried because of _Sasuke Uchiha..._

One thing was clear. She could _not_ run away from this battle. She had to stay to give her husband every bit of an advantage as he could get. The Byakugan was by no means a perfect counter to the Sharingan, but it could definitely see chakra flow and detect when genjutsu, Naruto's weakest skill, was being used.

Even if it killed her, she had to stay if Sasuke Uchiha somehow showed up.

* * *

**Crescent Moon Palace, Land of the Moon – April 21, AK 22**

"I have grown much stronger since then," Karin said scathingly. "Don't underestimate me."

Despite her strong words, however, Karin was on the verge of a mental breakdown. The amount of chakra her distant cousin just called out was ridiculous. Was it hundred time more than what she had? Or was it a thousand times? She couldn't tell. She was an Uzumaki and had massive reserves, but she felt like her reserves were a drop of water compared to the ocean of chakra Naruto had.

She now understood why Naruto had received the nickname of "The Golden Sun of Konoha." His chakra was enough to completely overwhelm her senses. It was so overwhelming that his chakra shroud was giving off a brilliant light instead of the light glow that even the most chakra intensive techniques produced.

Even with twenty men backing her up, it would be nowhere near enough to take him down in a fair battle.

"Karin, you have a minute to bring out the hostages before I tear you apart."

She smirked when she heard that. If there was one thing she knew about Naruto, it was that he was extremely soft at heart. She, on the other hand, had seen horrors working for Orochimaru and did not have such weaknesses.

"Oh? But the moment you move, the hostages will die."

"Don't be ridiculous," the Hyuuga girl remarked. "You have no guards posted around the hostages. There's no one to kill them."

"Foolish girl, all I need to do is to twitch my finger and the explosive seals on the room itself will go off. Don't think I came here without making preparations. Like I said, I felt you using your Byakugan for the last few days. I made some contingency plans in case you were to storm this palace."

There was a pause. Naruto's wife was a Hyuuga. She would be able to tell that the threat was not a mere bluff.

"You're too far out of range," the Hyuuga girl tried to argue, "A chakra signal can't be sent that far."

"Then attack me and find out!" Karin dared with a smirk. The Hyuuga immediately tried dashing forward. Karin grinned and made a hand sign. She motioned to her men to protect her and was about to activate the explosion when she saw a golden flash sweep the Hyuuga girl away. Karin lowered her hand and tilted her head at her distant cousin. Naruto had definitely become a lot more cautious and wiser over the years. It seemed that he didn't simply rush into things anymore.

"Smart move, Naruto. I didn't expect you to be so reasonable."

Naruto ignored her. "Hanabi, Karin isn't lying. You should have been able to discern that Karin was telling the truth with your Byakugan as well. Even if you kill Karin, I'm sure she has set up measures for her men to set off those explosives as well. Do you think you can kill all of them before the hostages are killed?"

"But that's impossible!" the girl protested. "There's no one in the vicinity of the hostages to set those seals off in an explosion."

"You can't kill Amayo and Hikaru! They've done nothing wrong!" the king said in despair. "Take me instead!"

Karin rolled her eyes. What an oaf. If the king really wanted his family free, he should have obeyed instead of calling for help.

She stared at Naruto. He stared back. They were at a standoff.

Karin could feel a drop of sweat rolling down the side of her head. While she would most certainly die if they attacked, she could survive long enough to kill the hostages. While it wasn't a favorable trade-off for her in her opinion, _they_ didn't think so. It was the real reason why she had kept the hostages alive despite King Michiru sending Naruto a request for help somehow.

Still, Karin had to play this carefully. It was a calculated risk to bring all her men with her. It was as Juugo said, while Naruto's chakra could be taken away, she herself was not too experienced in using the Gelel flux. And despite her reserves, she was never really a strong fighter. So she had brought every single one of her men to protect her if Naruto managed to stand and fight for a few seconds after the nullification barrier went up. For now, she would be able to hold Naruto with the explosive seals in the room where the hostages were.

Karin grit her teeth as she felt the seals she placed around the palace slowly charge up. She still had to stall for more would have started earlier but that would have tipped Naruto off from the very beginning. Juugo was much more skilled at using the Gelel flux and would have charged the seals already, but she had to manage with what little skill she had. It would be around ten more minutes before all chakra in the palace would be nullified.

She had to bank on Naruto valuing the lives of the hostages and not attacking.

"Hanabi," Naruto said suddenly, "Take King Michiru and leave. On your way out, free the advisors from the genjutsu and have them leave the palace as well. Evacuate everyone."

"What?" the Hyuuga girl asked, "Why?"

Karin frowned. What was Naruto playing at? Wouldn't it have been better to order the girl to save the hostages?

"I'll be able to sense where you go even if you leave this palace," Karin declared. "Don't try to send her a message to save the hostages. Naruto, you're already familiar with my techniques. You know I'm able to sense anything using chakra around a twenty kilometer radius."

Naruto fixed her with an appraising look before nodding. "Well, since you have your hostages, you shouldn't mind if I send out my wife and the king. I heard you got married to Sasuke and even have a child. You should understand my feelings for my wife. I don't want her to get caught up in this."

Karin wasn't sure how he even knew that she was married to Sasuke and had a son with him. It had been the right choice to send Itachi back home with Juugo. In any case, however, Naruto was right. She _did_ understand his feelings. Of course, that didn't mean she would simply indulge him.

"What?!" the king sputtered. "What are you saying, Naruto? We have to go save Amayo and Hikaru!"

"King Michiru," Naruto explained in a dangerous tone, "my deepest apologies, but please do as I ask." Karin saw Naruto look towards her again. "Karin, I can't back down, but at the very least, I don't want to get my wife involved."

"No! Naruto! What are you talking about?" the Hyuuga girl forcefully said. "We have her outnumbered! We have the advantage here!"

Nine minutes.

"If I say no?" Karin asked, trying to draw it out.

Naruto shrugged. "Then I'll kill you. Feel free to kill the hostages."

Karin took a step back when she felt his killing intent wash over her. She knew it was mostly a bluff, but there was a different feel about his chakra. While he didn't want the hostages to die, he valued the life of his wife much more. If it came down to it, he really would let her kill the hostages if it meant saving his wife.

She growled. She didn't have a choice.

Eight minutes. Still, maybe she could use this situation to her advantage. An evacuation took time. Naruto would not make a move until his wife, the king, and all the advisors were out of the palace. She could chase them down later after she killed Naruto. She couldn't allow anyone with knowledge of their operation on the island to leave the place alive. But Naruto didn't know that.

"Sure," Karin agreed. "They can leave. But if they pull any fast moves, I'm going to kill the hostages."

Naruto nodded. "Hanabi, look, Karin is using _chakra_ to remotely activate the explosive tags. That means there's nothing we can do to save the hostages right now. I rather you not get involved in the battle here. I am asking you to trust me to fight and win against all odds. Take King Michiru out before thinking of anything else. We need to minimize the number of casualties."

Karin smiled as the girl tried to refuse.

Seven minutes and thirty seconds.

"Look, Hanabi, listen to me, damn it!" Naruto shouted. "If you love me, then get the hell out of this room. NOW! Leave the _fighting_ to me!"

The girl quickly picked up the protesting king and started to leave.

Karin felt their presence leave the main hall. Karin stared at Naruto as the Hyuuga girl rounded up all the advisors and servants and left the palace. The girl was incredibly quick, even summoning a couple shadow clones to speed up the process, but it still managed to take a significant amount of time.

During that time, no words were exchanged between the two of them.

Two minutes.

Karin felt the chakra signals moving away from the castle. At the rate that they going, they would be around a half a kilometer away after this battle was done. She would be able to catch up and eliminate them before they called for more support.

"You know," she said with a smile, "there was no point in doing that. After I've killed you, I'm going chase after them and kill them. Sasuke ordered that no one was to know of our operation here."

Naruto nodded. "I could care less about what Sasuke wants. But do you mind explaining how you're going to do kill me before going after my wife and King Michiru?"

Karin raised an eyebrow. It didn't seem that Naruto was worried at all. Did he have some kind of plan?

"Why should I tell you anything?"

"Because I'm bored," Naruto drawled out. "We've been standing here for eight and a half minutes doing nothing. We might as well start a conversation. I can't kill you because of the hostages and you can't kill me until you do whatever you're about to do. Since I'm not in a position where I can move to attack you, you might as well tell me to make the time pass faster. And besides, you're stalling for time. I might as well let you stall some more."

One minute.

Well, it wasn't like Naruto would be able to do anything. So she could afford to indulge him. And as he said, she _was_ stalling.

"Sure, but you have to tell me your own plan to get out of here. I highly doubt you're just going to let me kill you," she responded.

Naruto nodded. "Sure," he smirked. "I guess I can tell you. But you first."

Fifty seconds.

"Chakra nullification. Soon you won't be able to use chakra in this palace at all. I'm slowly charging up a barrier around the palace," she explained with confidence. "Don't even think about moving to stop me. I know all about your speed in your Kyuubi Mode. All I need to do is twitch my finger. Even if you kill me, my men can also detonate those seals."

Forty seconds.

She saw Naruto raising an eyebrow. "Chakra nullification?" Karin smirked as the blond snorted. A pathetic attempt at a bluff. "What makes you think that _you're_ surviving this, Karin? You seem a bit too confident, don't you think? I'm not going to die just because you have hostages. Sure, I won't make a reckless move, but if it comes down to it, I'll just let you kill them and save my own life."

"You're lying. Isn't it something like your nindo to be an idealistic fool?" Karin frowned when Naruto smiled mischievously. That wasn't what Naruto would have done years ago. But now, he was casually talking about letting hostages die. Did he change that much or was this a bluff?

Thirty seconds.

Either way, she needed to stall for just a bit longer. It didn't matter how much Naruto changed. Once his chakra was taken away from him, he would fall like a sack of bricks.

"Yeah, well, it doesn't matter at this point. I have an awesome plan." Karin raised an eyebrow. He actually had a feasible plan, even after what she just told him? "I just won't use chakra then." Karin mentally snorted. What a fool. Naruto didn't understand. He was still an idiot after all these years. Even taijutsu wouldn't work once the seals were activated as taijutsu required chakra to enhance muscle strength. There was a chance that he could move for a few seconds, but that's what her men were there for. "And your explosive seals won't work either so you won't be able to hold that over me."

Ten seconds.

Karin rolled her eyes. Ones the nullification barrier went up, there would be no need for those hostages.

Three.

Two.

One.

_Activate!_

* * *

**Crescent Moon Palace, Land of the Moon – April 21, AK 22**

Hanabi quickly ran as quickly as she could away from the palace with the king, the advisors, and the servants. Surprisingly, with the king shouting orders, it hadn't been too difficult to evacuate everyone from the palace. Plus, it appeared that the king too shared Naruto's disgust for slavery and kept the number of palace workers to a bare minimum. And of course, the advisors, being nobles, were extremely quick at moving when their own lives were at stake.

Still, there had been too few people in the palace. Even the king had been surprised and had asked people if workers had taken the day off.

There was nothing to worry about though. She could see throughout the entire palace with her eyes and saw no one in there except Naruto and the enemy.

Hanabi thought back to what she had once told Naruto: _To love means to trust. Unconditionally._

Hanabi sighed, knowing that she had let herself be manipulated by her husband. She did say she would trust him. Even though that didn't mean that she should do whatever he says, for now, she would believe that he knew what he was doing.

Hanabi's eyes suddenly widened when she discovered that she could no longer see inside the main hall of the palace. _What the…?!_

The entire place was suddenly looked dark as if it had been removed from space-time itself. She turned off her Byakugan and looked back to see if the entrance to the main hall was still there.

"Heavens!" King Michiru cried out while on her back. "What is that?"

Hanabi merely stared at the green hemi-spherical barrier that had gone up around a large portion of the palace. It was about hundred meters wide in all directions and didn't seem to be impeded by objects; it appeared as if the green light simply went through the buildings. She activated her Byakugan again only to see the entire region completely disappear from her view.

_It's almost like that time with the seals! Those chakra nullification seals!_

Instantly a jolt of fear passed through her. She had to get back to Naruto. Even someone as strong as Naruto wouldn't be able to fight without chakra. She was about to head back at full speed when she was suddenly reminded of his words.

What was it that Naruto had said?

"…_I am asking you to trust me to fight and win against all odds."_

Hanabi frowned. Those words had sounded strange at the time he said it because the odds looked heavily in his favor. Naruto had _at least_ a hundred times more chakra than that Karin girl and Sasuke Uchiha was _nowhere_ in the area. Furthermore, it had been within the realm of possibility to take all twenty-one enemy combatants out with Naruto's speed. She herself might have been able to deal with one or two of them. The fight should have been completely in their favor.

But the chakra barrier removed all of the advantages he had. She looked up at the barrier. It was clear that Naruto was familiar with this Karin girl. Did Naruto already know that Karin had a chakra nullifying ability? Was that why Naruto sent her out with the king and all the advisors?

What else had he said?

"_Hanabi, look, Karin is using_ chakra_ to remotely activate the explosive tags. That means there's nothing we can do to save the hostages right now."_

_"Look, Hanabi, listen to me, damn it!" Naruto shouted. "If you love me, then get the hell out of this room. NOW! Leave the _fighting_ to me!"_

Her eyes widened. That was it! He trusted her, meaning that he didn't send her out _just_ because he was worried about her. He was telling her to go save the hostages! Because chakra no longer worked in the area, the hostages were no longer in danger. Nor would that Karin girl be able to sense her while she was inside the barrier.

Hanabi swept the area with her Byakugan. Sure enough, the area where the hostages were was outside of the chakra nullifying area. It didn't seem like the barrier extending into the basement where the hostages were.

She turned to the king. "Your Majesty, I'm going to need your help to get your wife and son out. Naruto told me in…um…code to do so. Because of that barrier, your wife and son shouldn't be in danger of exploding and I can see from here that there are no guards. But we're going to have to avoid entering that barrier. Do you know another way in?"

There was a long pause as he stared at her carefully. She could tell he was upset with having to leave the palace when his wife and son were in danger. But he was willing to listen to what they had to say since they were his only chance at getting his family out safely.

"Alright," he finally said, "I gathered that you can see everything with your strange eyes, but I think it'll still be easier following someone who knows these corridors in and out. I'll come with you."

King Michiru ordered his advisors to stay put and told them that he was going back in, despite their protests. Hanabi smiled as she looked at the scene. It seemed like the king was a natural coward, but meeting Naruto had given him enough resolution to constantly challenge himself each day and face his fears head-on. Even now, the knowledge that Naruto was fighting gave the king strength to believe.

* * *

**Crescent Moon Palace, Land of the Moon – April 21, AK 22**

Karin found herself flying back through the air before hitting the marble wall.

She didn't understand it! How did Naruto just hit her that hard? As expected, the golden shroud of chakra had disappeared, but he didn't look fatigued in the least like the others they tested the nullification barrier on.

"You shouldn't be able to use any chakra," she panted as she got up.

"Neither can you and you're moving perfectly fine," Naruto said with a smirk.

_Of course, I can, you idiot. I'm touching the Gelel Stone and it's feeding energy into me. How are you standing without an external source of power? _

That reminded of her of what Naruto had said a few minutes ago.

_Shit! I can't sense anything out of this barrier! My Mind's Eye of the Kagura won't work! Nor can I detonate those seals. Crap, I got too hasty because I thought I could take care of Naruto in a few seconds. I have to send some of my men back._

She had made a grave miscalculation and had gotten overconfident because of the nullification barrier. And without the hostages, she had nothing to use as leverage.

Still she couldn't send too many of her men back considering that Naruto was somehow able to fight. Quickly coming to a decision, she ordered her men. "You five, go back to where the hostages are. The rest of you, attack him! Prevent him from getting to the hostages!"

Naruto managed to knock two out before the other fifteen of her knights managed to block Naruto and stop him from stopping the last three from escaping. Still, it had been a close shave. Naruto was moving incredibly fast even without chakra.

Karin drew back as Naruto summoned thirty clones seemingly without any hand seals.

_Impossible! He couldn't have used chakra AND he didn't use hand signs. What the hell is going on?_

Her men started randomly swinging their Gelel-flux-coated blades at the random clones only to have the clones fade away a split second after contact.

"I see. They weren't shadow clones," she muttered. "They were just something similar to afterimages." She growled at her distant cousin.

Still, creating afterimages should have been impossible. Much less ones that still had some level of tangibility like the afterimages that Naruto had just thrown out.

She looked towards her distant cousin. The real Naruto had his eyes closed as if he were sensing the air itself.

It seemed almost as if he was using this as a training session. _Does he have some ability to sense objects around him?_ Karin frantically thought in panic. _The situation is just getting worse and worse._

Naruto kept weaving in and out between the swings without even trying and smashed his fists into her knights. It didn't matter how they attacked him. The front. The back. The side. From below. From above. He just seemed to know where everyone and everything was.

Three of her knights went flying through the air after Naruto hit them. They hit the walls hard and didn't move.

"Tch. Don't just stand there! Keep attacking him!" Karin shouted at the rest of her men.

Her knights attacked with renewed fervor, but were sent crashing to the floor when Naruto waved his hands in the air.

"L…Lady K…Karin!" one knight gasped out. "W…we can't b…breathe."

Karin frowned. Judging by how the armor was being dented, something heavy was pressing them against the ground.

She clenched her fists.

"My three men should have arrived by now. They'll be back with the hostages soon and if they find me dead, then they'll kill the queen and the prince. You don't want that, do you?"

Naruto completely disregarded her.

Karin grit her teeth. She would have to fight until her men brought the hostages back. She instantly drew more energy from the Gelel Stones in her pockets and coated her entire body with Gelel flux. No matter what strange power Naruto had, it couldn't be as strong as the Gelel flux.

"Gelel Release: Rapid Gelel Fire!" she cried as she jumped up in the air and showered him with energy beams, not caring if she hit her soldiers.

Naruto faded away just like his clones had. She quickly turned around. Usually ninjas tried to blindside their enemies. If Naruto had disappeared from her vision, the only place he would attack, especially in a no chakra zone preventing underground attacks, was her back.

Sure enough, when she turned around, that's where he was.

He didn't attack her, however.

She jumped back in fear away from him.

"You know," he drawled with his arms folded. "I'm fought a Gelel flux user before. You don't seem nearly as experienced with using the Gelel Stones as Temujin was."

"Tch. So you know about that fool?" Karin sneered. "Sasuke killed him and then conquered the entire continent before running experiments on how to take advantage of the energy from the Gelel Stones."

She created a sword made of pure Gelel flux and charged at him. She roared in frustration as she swung over and over again only to find him dodging quite easily. Dodging was probably not even the right word. It seemed like he was taking a walk in the park as he sidestepped each of her swings.

"Fascinating," Naruto remarked, crossing his arms again. Karin was furious but she lowered her blade and deactivated it. She had no chance against him. "I would say that I'm really interested in finding out how you're using the Gelel Stones without being of royal blood, but I'm guessing you used Orochimaru's DNA splicing technology using Temujin's body."

Karin grit her teeth in frustration. He wasn't anything like the exuberant and naïve boy that she had me over six years ago. Now he was incredibly intelligent, observant, and strong.

"My men will be back with the hostages," she spat out, more to convince herself than Naruto. She tried a bluff that even she thought was ridiculous. "I can also detonate the seals by using the Gelel flux. It won't be as effective, but it'll be enough to severely hurt them."

"Really now?" Karin didn't like the smirk that appeared on Naruto's face. "The last time I checked, those seals required _chakra_, chakra that we can't use right now. And since I know that any Gelel flux technique need to be directly in contact with a Gelel Stone or a user who has Gelel Stones implanted in his or her body to activate, there's no way you can activate those seals with Gelel flux. As for your men, my wife is heading over there as we speak. My sensing techniques don't require chakra and I can sense her moving through the palace to intercept your men."

"Impossible!" Karin yelled. "I felt her leaving the palace. You didn't even order her to go after the hostages."

"Of course," Naruto said calmly, "We're _ninjas_. We don't need to say things outright to understand each other. Hanabi isn't an idiot. She knew we were powerless as long as you had the hostages under your thumb. But my wife is more than smart enough to figure out that once this chakra-nullifying barrier went up, you lost your ability to detonate those seals. It seems like you haven't had too much practice in an actual fight using the Gelel flux. You're still used to using chakra for everything. Otherwise, you wouldn't have made such a crappy trap that required use of both chakra and the Gelel flux. Quite an amateur mistake you made there. And to think that someone like you called _me_ an idiot."

Karin could try taking down the barrier in order to regain advantage, but Naruto would kill her the moment he had his chakra back. Naruto would be able to reach her before she brought her hands up to blow up the seals. He knew that and she knew that.

She looked at her unconscious men. And her men were no longer present as deterrents either. Before Naruto was probably unsure whether or not he could kill twenty-one people before _one_ of them twitched their fingers. But it was clear from his expression that he was confident that he could kill just one person in time _easily_.

And what Naruto had said about her skills was true. She was technically only trained to genin-level before she joined Orochimaru. She did gain the rank of chuunin as an Oto ninja, but that was more for appearances than actual skill. Her sensing skills and medical skills were easily among the best in the world, but her fighting skills, tactics, and stealth were all genin level. She hadn't put too much thought into making this trap and neglected to make contingency plans upon contingency plans.

Karin began to panic. She didn't want to die.

Maybe she could get him to walk away.

"This chakra-nullifying barrier covers the entire area," Karin tried bluffing in a confident voice. "If your wife enters the barrier, she'll just end up being easy prey for my men. While you're able to fight without chakra, I doubt she is able to. You should probably go help her."

"The diameter of this barrier is about a hundred meters," Naruto said with a knowing smile. "I already had intel on your abilities."

"No way! There's no possible way you could have known!" Karin shouted in shock. "We've only use this technique in battle twice."

Naruto nodded. "I'm guessing that you used it once against King Michiru's ninjas and I _know _that you used it once before on a spy to your lands."

Karin gasped as she remembered the intruder that Sasuke had cut down a few months ago. "No way! He was your comrade?! That strange guy who looked like Sasuke? He survived? You're bluffing! He was still alive when we left him out to die, but every single vital organ was pierced in some way."

Naruto's killing intent skyrocketed. "And yet," he said dangerously, "somehow I have information on your activities. And you didn't think to check for other spies as well. I didn't just send one." Karin's heart froze at that. There was no possible way. She would have sensed another spy. No one but a sensor could mask his or her chakra signal and sensors were rare to find. To think that Naruto had a sensor loyal to him! Naruto went on, "You currently have five thousand men, each fitted with a third generation Gelel seal on his or her armor. Your third generation seals only repel chakra and protect the user from damage but doesn't nullify the opponent's chakra. On the other hand, this current area of effect seal you have activated is a fourth generation seal that does take way the opponents ability to use chakra but requires time or multiple people to charge it. That was why you were stalling for time earlier," Naruto listed out. "Shall I go on?"

Karin started sweating at his cold tone. Her knees were shaking just from the killing intent he was releasing. The killing intent was greater than what Sasuke let out. This Naruto wasn't just smart, he was _dangerous_. She needed to somehow make it alive. She needed to warn Sasuke. If everything was on schedule, Sasuke should have gotten the message from Juugo by now. He would be able to space-time ninjutsu to save her. She just needed to hold out for a bit longer.

_Flashback_

_Karin frowned. "What power could threaten the power of the Gelel Stone? The stone itself is powered by spirit of nature itself. It'll take time, but we'll even be able to perfect the fuinjutsu we created to prevent the usage of chakra within a certain radius. You know as well as I do that chakra is the lifeblood of any ninja. Even the bijuu would be powerless facing this."_

_Sasuke shook his head. "I'm not certain, but I can feel it in my blood. The Uchiha blood is borne for battle and I felt it roar in anticipation while on the main continent. I know at least Naruto Uzumaki will not have sat around for over six years doing nothing. He will have found a way to fight even if we drain every bit of chakra from his body. I would never underestimate him."_

_End Flashback_

Karin dodged a lazy swing from the blonde although she knew that was only because he _let _her dodge. She tried jumping away but found herself slammed into the ground by an unbelievable amount of force.

She soon found herself completely surrounded by water, which quickly solidified into ice. "Shit, how are you doing this?!" she screamed as ice started to cover her entire body. "You're not supposed to be able to use chakra, much less have a bloodline ability like ice manipulation!"

It didn't even appear as if Naruto was trying. If Karin had to be honest with herself, Naruto probably could have finished the battle a minute after it began. Her instincts had been right. He _had_ been using the entire fight as practice.

But it was her fault. She had forgotten. This man. This man was Sasuke's rival. She never should have underestimated him. She should have fought him as if she were fighting Sasuke.

"Be glad that I'm not out to kill you," Naruto said with a drawl. "You're just an appetizer. I'm just waiting for the main course to arrive."

As she felt her consciousness drifting away from the cold, the last thing she saw was the space around her warping and ice shattering as someone grabbed her and repeatedly shouting "Karin!"

_Sasuke…_

* * *

**Crescent Moon Palace, Land of the Moon – April 21, AK 22**

Hanabi swiftly ducked and sidestepped the swipes from her enemies, not overlooking the green energy humming around her as she dodged. She had seen them leave the barrier and come towards her direction. Immediately telling the king to get behind her, she took out her one of her two fans, mentally thanking Naruto for the weapons.

Her Gentle Fist would likely be useless, although she would have to test that out to make sure. But at the very least, she could still use her sharp fans. The metal armors appeared to be sturdy, but her Byakugan told her the joint areas were weak and unprotected. She would attack those points. And by no means were her fans weak as they were made of the strongest possible metals and were coated in diamond dust, making her fans extremely sharp and durable. She would have to thank Naruto for his incredibly useful gift.

Long range first to confirm whether chakra and by extension, her Gentle Fist, would work.

"Water Release: Burst Whip," she intoned as a long water whip emerged. She whipped and swung the water rope towards her enemies and found that her whip _rebounded_. Her Byakugan told her that there was some odd green energy that repelled the chakra. However, the chakra did not dissipate.

The results showed that chakra might work after a certain point. That meant two things. (One) Enough chakra would allow her to break through that energy. (Two) Too much chakra pushed against the strange energy would cause the resulting mix of energy to detonate.

Chakra would have to be her last option. She pulled out her other fan and opened it elegantly. Her hands and Gentle Fist wouldn't do much so she might as well hold weapons in both hands.

She ran towards the enemies, jumping and flipping and kicking. While chakra couldn't pierce the odd green energy barriers, the force of her blows did and the two knights she had just kicked staggered back.

She swerved around a swipe from the third knight and swung upwards elegantly at his elbow joint with one of her fans and then swung her other arm at his waist between the upper and lower plates to slice with her fan.

"AAHHHHH!" The knight cried as blood spurted from his two wounds. The man was fortunate. If she had been using wind chakra, he would have lost his arm.

Not that it mattered. She was going to kill him in a few seconds.

Still following the momentum of her last swing, she turned gracefully to avoid the blood and with one of her now closed fans, she slammed the man in the back of the headpiece where it was weakest.

_Thud!_

"One down," she said in a stoic voice.

She could tell that the other two were hesitating. She could see fear. Fear meant weakness.

She jumped in between them and twirled with her fans as she spun. Blood spurted out from the side of their necks as she ducked then hopped away, again to avoid the blood. They fell to the ground with their hands on their necks and died after a few seconds.

"King Michiru," she said as she snapped the fans shut and used a water technique to let the blood drip off of her fans. She turned to the shivering king who was looking at her as if she was a demon. "I believe your wife and son are in the next room over."

"Y…yes," he stammered. Hanabi was tempted to roll her eyes. She couldn't have looked that scary. Her entire battle style was like a graceful dance. She hadn't even gotten any blood on her clothes! She had used her speed and agility to quickly dodge the spurting blood. She did admit that she strayed from the Hyuuga philosophy of minimizing exterior injuries, but it wasn't like she had much choice. She didn't want to risk using her Gentle Fist style and accidentally have an explosion in her face. She would much rather stay alive than follow to some philosophy she didn't really believe in. Especially now that she was an Uzumaki.

"Let's go save them and then rescue my idiot husband back in the main hall."

At the mention of Naruto, the king steeled his eyes and nodded. Hanabi was still confused about that. First, it was back when they were outside the palace and now this. What did Naruto mean to the king that the king would suddenly regain his courage at the mention of his name? There were still too many mysteries where Naruto was involved. Naruto seemed to have such a positive effect on those around him.

Hanabi wondered if her life was touched in the same manner as well.

She looked at her fans and smiled.

Yes. Naruto did change her life. In more ways than one.

* * *

**Crescent Moon Palace, Land of the Moon – April 21, AK 22**

"Long time no see, Sasuke," Naruto said with a bright smile that he knew fooled no one. The killer intent in the air was palpable to both of them. "And I see that you brought some friends." Naruto gestured at Suigetsu and Juugo. "But you're not the only one with backup."

Naruto raised his hand.

The orange-haired girl appeared blinked into existence. She was wearing the black cloak he wore as Kokuten which blocked both sensors and the Byakugan. "Lord Naruto?"

He kept his gaze on Sasuke and his friends. "Did you get them out?"

"I was able to evacuate most of the people before Lady Hanabi began. It seems like your newest seals did their job well. It didn't seem that Lady Hanabi was able to detect at all."

Naruto nodded. At close range mode, the Byakugan would just see an empty spot in space. However, to a Hyuuga using the default mode and the long range mode, the cloak would render the wearer invisible to the Byakugan.

"Are you done, Naruto?" Sasuke said as he finished crushing the solid ice covering Karin. Sasuke gently handed the unconscious girl to Juugo.

As expected, Sasuke had teleported to the area. Naruto's calculations had been on the dot. It had been based on information that Sai had almost died for to obtain. Naruto made a mental note to thank Sai again.

"Ready when you are," Naruto declared as he settled into a fighting stance. "Sasame, it might be too much to ask you to take on both Suigetsu and Juugo, but I need you to keep them out of my way."

"No need for that," Sasuke turned to his two subordinates. "Don't get involved. There," Sasuke smirked, "your pretty mistress won't get hurt."

Sasame shifted uncomfortably next to him. Naruto's anger flared. "She's not my mistress, you bastard. Maybe you like to toy with girls' emotions, but I don't."

Sasuke didn't lose the smirk on his face, "Then where's your wife? Why isn't she standing next to you? I heard that your wife was an elite, yet you choose to have another woman stand next to you."

"I don't need to explain myself to you, you prick."

"I guess I pushed a button there, _dead last_."

Naruto froze before laughing at that. "Dead last," Naruto kept chuckling. "It's so funny that even after all these years, you use that same insult you did when we were twelve years old. Tell me, Sasuke. How does it feel when you're eating dirt because of this dead last?"

Naruto released a wave of physical energy and crushed Sasuke to the ground with a pillar of super-compressed air.

Sasuke fell to the ground but slowly fought his way up as he covered himself with the Gelel flux. Naruto kept tried to increase the pressure, but Sasuke was able to fight off the pressure. "I see you managed to find a new power. But you're not the only special one here! As it always had been, I...I...I am more special than you!" he roared.

Naruto released his technique and he jumped back. He weaved in and out the dozens of green tendrils that Sasuke shot out from his green shroud, using the Spirit Field to guide his movements. Channeling spiritual energy, Naruto manipulated time around his body and slowed it down so his movements would become relatively faster. Naruto took out his Star Staff and struck at Sasuke who blocked it with his Kusanagi Sword.

Naruto smirked as Sasuke leapt into the air to put some space in between them. _Idiot_. Naruto manipulated the air around them to thicken to slow Sasuke's movements through the air and then manipulated the water particles to rapidly freeze around Sasuke's body.

"Checkmate," Naruto declared as ice-covered Sasuke dropped to the ground like a rock.

"Sasuke!" Juugo cried out, setting Karin down on the ground and getting ready to fight.

"Hey, calm down," Suigetsu drawled, while shouldering his sword. "Sasuke's got this."

Sasuke struggled against the thick ice as Naruto race forward with a kunai. He raised his spiritual levels to the maximum he could to increase the time dilation around his body. He used as much physical energy as he could to activate his body to increase its speed. He wasn't nearly as fast as he was with the Kyuubi cloak on, but he was still incredibly fast.

Naruto calculated the distance in his head. From this distance, it would take 1.1 seconds to reach Sasuke. He had thought about shadow stepping to Sasuke, but while disappearing was instantaneous, it took a full second and half to reappear. At this distance, it was faster to attack directly.

_I have to take out his Sharingan. That's the source of his strength. He won't be a threat to the world if I manage to take out even one of his eyes. That will permanently lock away his ability to use Susanoo which requires both eyes and either Tsukuyomi or Amaterasu depending on which eye I get. At this point, I don't care which one it is.  
_

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Naruto."

_Shit! _Naruto's eyes widened as he felt a huge surge of energy and shadow stepped away. Black flames passed the area he had just been standing.

A second and half later, Naruto reappeared next to Sasame who took a step forward and got in a defensive stance in front of him. Using physical energy, she manipulated the dirt below the palace to rise up and spin around them as protection, much like how Gaara's special sand did for him. Naruto could tell with one glance that she had hardened the dirt clumps flying around them to the point that even Amaterasu wouldn't burn through them immediately.

Still, as extra precaution, Naruto placed his hand on Sasame's shoulder and prepared to shadow step them away in case Sasuke decided to fire off another round of Amaterasu.

Sasuke used the time he just bought to burn through the ice encasing him with Amaterasu.

"You can use your Sharingan while using the Gelel flux? How unfair. The law of nature and life just don't seem to apply to you ever. You always manage to pull something out of your ass without working for it." Naruto had recklessly charged because he thought that Sasuke wasn't able to use the Sharingan while under a chakra nullification barrier. However, it seemed like Sasuke figured out a way to replace chakra with the Gelel flux completely. That wasn't good news at all. "Oh well, I guess it was too much to hope for anyway. After all, you wouldn't be the same cheating, thieving son of a bitch if you didn't have the Sharingan," Naruto growled out.

"Why you!"

Naruto ignored Sasuke's outburst. "But it doesn't seem like you can use genjutsu in this barrier," he said matter-of-factly. "I know a bit of how the Gelel flux works. You have to be in direct contact with the Stone. Unless you touch me to inject the Gelel energy into me, you can't place me in a genjutsu even if you do have the Sharingan. Just letting you know, I have much more I can use, while you've already used one of your two trump cards."

Sasuke looked furious at having to use a powerful technique so early in the battle and even more so that Naruto had figured out a weakness in Gelel flux techniques. "I don't have time to fight you right," he growled as his eyes flickered towards Karin before landing on Naruto again. "I'll back off from the Land of the Moon. You have my word that I won't return here. But I'm warning you. This is a one time thing. Next time, don't get in my way."

Naruto laughed mirthlessly and glared at his former friend. "Why shouldn't I? You're only going to throw the entire world into chaos."

"Chaos?" Sasuke repeated, before shaking his head. He gestured to Juugo and Suigetsu to gather all their soldiers. Sasame, however, did not drop her technique. "It's _justice_," he hissed. "The great villages defile the sacrifices their best and most talented have made. The kages parade themselves around as heroes when the _true_ heroes are dead!"

"Don't fool yourself into thinking that you're doing something noble, Sasuke," Naruto said in a cold voice. "We both know that this whole hissy fit of yours is about Itachi and your clan. You couldn't care less about anything else. Don't try to make your pity party out to be something grand like justice. Fighting for justice is fighting for those who are weak and can't defend themselves. You're just fighting for yourself."

"I'm fighting for the dead, Naruto," Sasuke insisted angrily. "The dead are defenseless as well. I don't expect you to understand. I, however, will not stand and watch my brother's sacrifice be trampled into the ground."

"Your brother sacrificed himself to cover up your clan's treachery," Naruto snapped back.

"They only rebelled because they were ostracized!" Sasuke yelled, losing his temper. "They willing sacrificed their pride to be the Senju clan's dogs for years! They were willing to compromise and share their own power with the rest of the village, yet they ended up being seen as evil. The Uchiha were every bit as instrumental in Konoha's success as the Senju. We had spilled our blood in three World Wars and _still _Konoha screwed over my clan and _forced_ them to rebel." Sasuke paused as he took in several deep breaths. "But even after that, the Uchiha sacrificed again. My brother decided to save Konoha at the expense of my clan. For a time, I was fine with that fact. But when the war ended, even when the truth was exposed, Konoha decided to cover it up again and branded my brother as a traitor!"

"But your clan's status as a noble clan was cemented."

Sasuke shook his head. "That should go without saying. Konoha should _apologize _to the spirits of my dead clansmen AND recognize the tremendous sacrifice Itachi made. I'm going to get the entire world to understand that fact."

"Right, you want to have your cake and eat it too," Naruto said sarcastically. "But Sasuke, I hope you know that it's going to be a pretty small world around you after your little campaign. No one's going to follow your logic at all. You're going to end up having to kill quite a lot of people if you want everyone to agree with you."

"Don't make me out to be a monster, Naruto," Sasuke said in a cold tone. "I'm not going to slaughter innocents. I'm only going to kill those who dishonored my family. You kill in the name of Konoha. I kill in the name of my clan. I see no difference. Look around you, dead last. Are you satisfied with what the great villages are doing? They're just amassing power and crushing the weak and the poor, the people _you_ so love. They're the ones enslaving the people. You're just standing there doing nothing but following along. You, by association, are just as guilty for being a part of that system of corruption and evil."

"Perhaps," Naruto admitted, not letting Sasuke know about his real plans, "but I do what I can to stop the corruption wherever I go. I fund orphanages and shelters. I adopted kids of my own. I don't extort or threaten people like you do. I vowed to protect Konoha as long as I'm a ninja there so I kill on my missions and I kill criminals to protect the weak, but I don't kill people just because they oppose me in the pursuit of my dream of peace. There's a difference in killing out of duty and killing for selfish gain even if you can justify that killing with other reasons. Such subtlety may be lost on a bastard like you."

"Oh, look, someone learned a new word," Sasuke spat out derisively. "Naruto, you're still that idealistic idiot after all these years. You're just making excuses for your inaction. You're just rationalizing why you're not stepping forward to change the world. I...I refuse to be like you." Sasuke turned and placed his hands on Juugo and Suigetsu who had gathered all seventeen soldiers that had been in the room. "I'm leaving here today because I can't afford to fight a full-powered battle with you right now. I would unnecessarily weaken myself and get my allies hurt. But I'm warning you. When I come for Konoha, if you get in my way, I'll kill you."

Naruto openly laughed at that. "I'm sure you'll try." Naruto just watched as Sasuke disappeared with his allies.

* * *

**Crescent Moon Palace, Land of the Moon – April 21, AK 22**

"Thank you, Naruto," the king said happily while sitting on the throne next to his wife and son. There was a hole in the ground in the throne room but the king already had people working to repair it. "Once again, you proved yourself to be a friend to this land. You did scare me with your statements earlier, but I should have known that it was a bluff to scare the enemy. You have my gratitude."

"Not at all, King Michiru," her husband said sheepishly, "And I'm really sorry that I scared you by telling you to leave the palace with Hanabi. I would have explained but I couldn't say anything in front of the enemy."

"Naruto dear," Hanabi resisted the urge to twitch at Queen Amayo's term of endearment. Only Hanabi could call him _dear_. It most certainly didn't help that the queen looked majestic and pretty in her own right, despite her older age. "What happened to the enemy?"

"Ah," Hanabi tensed, as Naruto had grown serious, "she escaped. Her accomplice came to rescue her. They used something that resembled a space-time ninjutsu which allows them to teleport to and from far distances away."

"Oh no!" King Michiru shouted. "What if they come back? They already killed ten of my strongest ninjas! They were all A-rank elites! That red-eyed Uchiha with a cloak just knocked them to the ground with one finger and then slaughtered them all. All my ninjas were helpless."

"Normally, I would admonish my husband for being so cowardly, but in this case, I agree with him. We would most certainly feel safe with you around, Naruto dear," Hanabi thanked Kami for the eighteen years of practice she had in controlling her emotions because she wanted open her fans and kill the queen at that moment, "Is there a way that you could stay with us for an extended period of time? Once you leave, we're vulnerable again."

"Well," Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "I'll be here for a month, but I can't stay any longer than that." Naruto furrowed his brows before reaching into his robes. "Take this," he said as he handed them a strangely shaped kunai.

Hanabi's eyes widened. _Is that what I think it is?! _

"What is this?" King Michiru said curiously. "How is a single blade going to protect us?"

Naruto smirked. "Try throwing it in any direction."

The king did and Naruto teleported towards the kunai. "Fascinating!" the prince said. "If we ever get in trouble, we can summon you here!" The prince smirked. "Or whenever we particularly want to see you as well…"

Hanabi stood there calmly but was internally in turmoil at the revelation that Naruto knew the Hiraishin. She knew he had something _like_ the Hiraishin after the stunt he pulled to save her from Hinata's Kaiten, but she didn't think he knew how to perform the actual technique itself using a formula seal on a kunai. The stories of the Fourth Hokage using the Hiraishin to slaughter hundreds of Iwa ninjas were like legends at this point.

Naruto laughed at that. "But Hikaru, if you throw that, I'll think you're in grave danger! I might appear ready to fire an incredibly destructive technique. I'm sure you wouldn't want a scare like that. As for visiting, I'll try to visit more often so you won't resort to throwing that just to have me here."

"Aww, but you said that the last time you were here, Naruto!" the prince protested.

Naruto put his hands up defensively. "Kakashi-sensei's been a slave driver for the last few years so I couldn't visit. Blame him!" Naruto gave them a bright smile. "In any case, Hanabi and I still have almost a week left here. We'll be sure to visit everyday."

The king smiled. "Now then, I know I already told you that we couldn't afford to give you a blank check, but you knew that was me trying to tell you something was wrong. As my thanks, I'll be giving you a blank check to buy whatever you want from our kingdom's resorts."

Hanabi jumped and covered Naruto's mouth before he could refuse. She would not let Naruto ruin this grand opportunity to buy everything she ever wanted. She would not let him reject this incredibly generous offer.

She said in the sweetest voice she could muster, "We gratefully accept, Your Majesty."

* * *

**Hotel Resort, Land of the Moon – April 21, AK 22**

"Naruto, you have some explaining to do."

Naruto groaned. He was not looking forward to a Q&A session with his wife. "Karin's a distant cousin of mine. Her name used to be Karin Uzumaki before she married my old genin teammate."

Hanabi nodded. "She's Sasuke Uchiha's wife?"

Naruto tilted his head grimly. "I'm guessing you picked that tidbit up from my conversation with Karin and from what King Michiru said. I have contacts all over the world. I heard that they got married together while on another continent and even had a child together. I had hoped that Sasuke would finally just settle down, but it looks like he wants another fight."

"Well, aren't you stronger than he is, right?" Naruto smiled when the girl sounded a bit worried.

"In a straight up fight, I doubt that there is anyone in this world stronger than I am, Hanabi," Naruto replied. "I'm not bragging or fishing for compliments. There are a number of reasons why that that's simply the truth, but I don't want to get into them right now. But even if I'm the strongest, Sasuke comes close. Closer than anyone else. But that's not even the issue here. There are other reasons why I have to keep my guard up against him."

"What do you mean?" the girl asked with a frown. "Are you talking about that strange chakra nullification ability that his wife had?"

"Yes," Naruto scowled. "First he had his damn Sharingan, then Orochimaru's Cursed Seal of Heaven, then the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan _and_ Itachi's power on top of that, and _now_ he's somehow taking advantage of the fact that Gelel flux can negate chakra. Every time I beat him down, he finds some way to exponentially increase his power. I wouldn't begrudge him his power except Sasuke rarely works for anything he has. It's like playing an action video game where your opponent has godmode activated."

His wife laughed at his little joke. "So this time, the 'godmode' as you call it is Uchiha's ability to negate your strength while using a completely different power."

"More or less," Naruto admitted. "But it's not just that. Despite being given anything anyone could want in life, Sasuke still hyper-focuses on the few things in his life that didn't go well. Yes, his family died, but given his reaction, you'd think that he was the only orphan in the world. And now he's trying to drag other people into this miserable tantrum of his."

"Tantrum?"

"He was angry at the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War when he didn't become appointed Hokage even after 'gracing' the village with his presence once more," Naruto add the last bit sarcastically. "So I'm guessing he's trying to rule the world by force instead. Why else would he create seals to prevent people from using chakra? Why else would he use extortion to squeeze money from King Michiru? Sasuke's building an anti-ninja army."

Still, there was something odd about the situation. Naruto frowned as he remembered the brief encounter when Sasuke had come to rescue Karin. This time, the look in Sasuke's eyes was a bit different. It didn't look like Sasuke was solely motivated by hate or anger. His eyes seemed more…purposeful.

A rational Sasuke with a radical philosophical belief would be extremely dangerous. Especially with a power like the Gelel flux at hand.

"Anti-ninja…I've been holding off on this question but how did _you_ fight them?"

Naruto winced, and then winced again when he realized she saw his reaction. His wife wasn't glaring but he still wilted at the eager look. "Alright. Sit down first."

Naruto sighed. He hadn't planned on teaching anyone outside his inner circle his new sets of techniques, but he figured he could make an exception for his wife. She _had_ made him happy over the past few weeks, especially with her reassurances to be with him no matter what. This would be his way of paying her back for her sweet words, even if they might not be entirely true. And perhaps, just perhaps, she might join him in his cause.

"I'm guessing this is going to be a long talk."

Naruto laughed. The girl was in for a head-spinning lecture. "Alright," he said, "tell me how much you know about chakra theory."

"Chakra theory?" His wife furrowed her brows and Naruto couldn't help but notice how cute his wife looked. He shook his head and tried to focus on the situation at hand. He could resolve his distraction problems with her later. "Well, chakra is made up of spiritual energy and physical energy and chakra is the source of all ninja techniques."

"Correct," he nodded. Hanabi had given what was the textbook definition of chakra. "Chakra is used in everything from ninjutsu to genjutsu to taijutsu. An undetectable amount of chakra is required for life and chakra exists even in nature. Now, the chakra in our bodies has a mix of physical energy and spiritual energy that is mixed in a ratio of one to one. Chakra, however, is not limited to pure one to one mix of yin and yang. Certain techniques do require altered ratios."

"And how does that allow you to overcome chakra nullification," Hanabi asked curiously.

Naruto frowned. The girl had encountered a situation where she couldn't use chakra and was obviously interested in learning a way to fight in case she fought another chakra nullifying opponent. Naruto had just decided that he wasn't opposed to teaching _her_, but he didn't want her to flaunt these techniques wherever she went. People watching her would find out about that there was a new source of power. Wars were already bad enough with chakra. With different sources of power, the wars would only get bigger and much more deadly.

Already, it seemed that the war Sasuke was planning to start would be bad enough. He hadn't raised an army strong enough to challenge any of the great villages just yet, but he was getting there. Naruto was sure that in a year or two, Sasuke would be rushing back to the Elemental Nations for whatever misguided sense of justice he had.

"Swear on your love for me that you won't reveal what I tell you to anyone."

The girl tensed but didn't hesitate when she said, "I swear. My life is with you and no one else. Not even Konoha can drive me against you."

Naruto smiled despite not entirely believing her response.

The girl seemed to unconsciously understand that one day he might have to come to blows against Konoha. Naruto wasn't sure what she would choose when it actually came down to that point, but for now, he was happy that she was reassuring him that she would stand with him.

But no one loved him _that _much.

Not his friends, not his teachers, not his admirers, and most certainly not the villagers. His friends liked him because he constantly worked to keep them safe. Take that service for them away, and then they would turn on him in an instant. Naruto had no delusions that his "friends" loved him for who he was. They only accepted him because he was their currency to purchase peace.

Naruto was no longer the naïve child who thought the world was a pretty place and he had long since come to the conclusion that it was just best to assume that almost everyone was out to kill him.

Even just three weeks of happiness with Hanabi had been enough to lower his guard. It was how he had overlooked the possibility of an enemy ninja masquerading as the queen.

He couldn't afford to live so casually.

"The techniques I used take that concept to the extreme. I used pure spiritual energy and pure physical energy to combat the chakra nullification. Using pure spiritual energy I can create short-lived illusions, manipulate the thoughts of others, create sensory techniques, or even temporarily stop time. With pure physical energy, I can increase or decrease the properties of objects."

"I understand the illusions and sensory techniques, but properties of objects?"

Naruto waved his hands and motioned for her to attack him. Naruto laughed when the girl moved as if she was in a swimming pool. "Haha! See, that's what happens. I manipulated the properties of air to make it denser so it's harder to move through. I can also do this." Naruto waved again and Hanabi fell on his lap, unable to get up.

"Hey! Let me up!"

Naruto snickered again and let her up. "I manipulated the properties of air and increased the air pressure right above you so it would hold you down. If I took that to the maximum level, I can crush your entire body with just air."

"Amazing," his wife breathed out.

Naruto rolled his eyes when the girl decided that being sprawled on his lap was a good thing. He indulged her and began to stroke her hair lightly.

"In normal cases, physical energy is what gives chakra is elemental nature, so what you and I manipulate in nature will only be mostly air and possibly water. Also, since it's your own body's physical energy, you will also be able to manipulate the properties of your own body. Aside from that, I don't think there's much we can manipulate. With chakra we are able to control far more objects and materials because the imaginary power of yin gives more versatility to the manipulating power of yang. But with yin and yang separated, there are greater restrictions to what we can do. The limit to spiritual energy is that it is short-lived. The limit to physical energy is that it is only possible to manipulate what is already there. I cannot create something out of nothing like I can with chakra."

"I see. So what about the other elements? Can you control them with physical energy as well?"

"This is all theory of course since I'm the first pure yin and yang user in the world. But much of what I know is self-taught. I can manipulate the properties of water in the air to become ice or liquefy it on the ground to make an opponent slip. I believe with earth you would be able to manipulate the properties of the ground to increase or decrease gravity and the texture of the ground itself. With fire, I think you would be able to control the heat so that you can burn only what you wish. Also you would be able to manipulate the light itself so you can turn whatever you want invisible by manipulating the existing light rays. With lightning, I believe you would be able to manipulate metals with magnetism."

"Some of those things, we can't even do with chakra. That's impressive."

"Maybe. This is all theoretical at this point. I can only say for sure what happens with air and water. I can use fire when I'm using my Kyuubi shroud but I haven't tested out pure yang release techniques while in Kyuubi Mode. That would require me forcibly separating the physical energy from the spiritual energy in the Kyuubi's chakra. Even after six or seven years, I haven't fully mastered the use of the Kyuubi's chakra, especially after my father returned the yin portion of the Kyuubi's chakra to me. I don't want to risk experimenting with that much spiritual energy and physical energy yet. I'm far from a master at using these techniques."

"Okay," Naruto smiled as he noticed the girl falling asleep. He continued stroking the girl's hair and rubbing her side. "And what about the Hiraishin? How do you know that?"

Naruto laughed. "It's true that I can use the Hirashin, but I rarely do. While the Hiraishin allows for instantaneous teleportation, it just doesn't have the range and flexibility that I need. I can teleport maybe ten kilometers at most using the Hiraishin. But even for shorter distances, I still need the sealing formula to be placed somewhere. My own teleportation technique does use a sealing formula for large distances, but only requires my sight for shorter distances. It much more useful. And I'm still reducing the time it takes to reappear after teleporting. Eventually, it'll become a better technique than the Hiraishin itself."

"Mmm," she murmured. "Then what about the kunai you gave to King Michiru?"

"It's not the Hiraishin; otherwise I wouldn't have given the kunai to King Michiru. If Sasuke came back with Karin again, they'd just activate the chakra nullification field and the Hiraishin, which still uses chakra, would be useless. The kunai is an application of spiritual and physical energies. The imaginary power of yin creates a hole in space-time along the path of the kunai and the manipulative properties of yang stabilize the tear long enough for me to enter and exit the hole. Because it's tied to my spiritual and physical energies, it automatically links the hole in space-time to where I am at that moment." He paused to stroke the unmoving girl's hair more. "It was a bit of a hassle to create it. I had to develop a completely new branch of fuinjutsu that dealt with yin and yang.""

Naruto got a tad bit annoyed when he saw the girl had fallen asleep. He was even more irritated when he realized that they weren't going to be engaging in certain bedtime activities that night, but decided that he didn't mind when he saw the smile on the sleeping Hanabi's face.

* * *

AN: Longest chapter to date. I thought about breaking it up, but really couldn't find a spot to do so.

Sorry. You don't get to bear witness to the fateful Naruto vs Sasuke moment just yet. This battle was only a preview of what is to come much later on. Naruto's changed quite a bit, but so has Sasuke. Sasuke's no longer the one-dimensional vengeful prick he once was. He's still obsessed about revenge and justice, and still very much a prick, but there's a bit more to him than just that. Note that he does care about Karin even if he doesn't quite love her the way he should. I want to point out that Karin was willing to damage her allies in an effort to kill Naruto. Sasuke, however, did not fight because he didn't want Karin to get hurt. That was why he left without finishing the fight. An all-out fight between them would have caused a lot of collateral damage.

I might get complaints about Karin's rather pathetic trap. Yes, it was supposed to be pathetic. We're talking about a Sasuke fangirl here; we all know how those are. Haha.


	20. Memory Lane II - Double Betrayal

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. This is fanfiction, after all.

* * *

This isn't a _real_ chapter. It's the followup to the first "flashback" chapter I posted up (Chapter 11) although it has a bits of other material to address some of the questions I've been getting about Naruto and Sakura.

Just like the other one, this chapter isn't filler.

* * *

**Basement of the Uzumaki Compound, Konoha – January 2, AK 22**

"Naruto! Sai needs you now!"

Naruto jumped up and moved into action. He grabbed Sai in his arms and kicked open the door to the basement. It was his secret base of operations.

It was a rather large basement, so it a while to get to where he needed to while carrying Sai as gently as possible. Naruto had a small medical room for emergencies like this one. He gestured for Hokuto to open the door and then placed Sai on the bed inside.

Naruto had been getting ready to go to bed when Hokuto had reverse summoned herself and Sai into his living room. It was clearly an emergency maneuver after an aborted espionage mission.

He had heard from Kahiko that Sasuke Uchiha had overrun the entire continent and was running experiments on people using the Gelel flux. Naruto had requested Sai and Hokuto to gather intelligence.

Naruto would have gone himself, but he had to get ready for yet another mission that Kakashi prepared for him.

Sai, on the other hand, had just completed an S-rank with a full squad and was on mandatory leave (mandatory for everyone _but_ Naruto), and Hokuto didn't really have a village to worry about since Hoshi had long since been destroyed in the war. Hokuto had been one of the few ninjas to survive her village's destruction and had operated as an independent contractor when Naruto had found her.

Naruto had shadow stepped both of them onto the continent using a marker that Kahiko had and gave them a reverse summoning seal to escape.

"N…Naruto, I…" Naruto grimaced as Sai hacked a few times. His injuries didn't look too good.

"Sai, damn it, don't talk!" Naruto quickly performed a medical diagnostic technique. _Shit, every single organ is damaged in some way. Not good._ "If only I had a faster way to heal him!" Naruto flashed through some hand signs and started using the Mythical Palm Technique to heal as much damage as possible.

"What about the Shadow Clone Technique?" Hokuto inquired as she ran around the room to collect tools he might need. "Can't you just copy yourself?"

Naruto shook his head sadly. "It doesn't work that way. The Shadow Clone Technique is also a technique, not just making copies of myself. I have to constantly feed a steady stream of chakra into each of my clones and that interferes with the precise control I need to use medical ninjutsu. It's like trying to perform medical ninjutsu while firing off destructive ninjutsu at the same time." He growled. _If only I had more time, damn it! _"The only type of clone I can use is a special chakra clone that has its own supply of chakra, but those take a full half-an-hour to create!"

"I…it's too l…late, Naruto," Sai choked out. Naruto ignored the blood that splattered on his clothes. "Let me give y…you the information that I c…collected. I l…learned a…a lot from b…battling him. Sas…Sasuke is…"

Naruto shook his head. He didn't need to hear it right now. He was going to save Sai.

"Sai, be quiet," Hokuto chastised from his side, while crying lightly.

"Hokuto, what happened?" Naruto demanded as he kept the Mythical Palm technique active.

Sai wasn't going to die. Sai wasn't going to die, damn it!

"We individually scouted out different areas of Uchiha's base. I'm a sensor so I was able to fully mask my chakra signature, but Sai got caught by that Uzumaki girl when he tried to use one of his techniques to rendezvous with me after we were done scouting. The Uzumaki girl's abilities were much more advance than what we had anticipated. It was beyond what normal sensors are able to do. Eventually, I was drawn to his location by the sound of the battle and couldn't do anything but watch. I'm terribly sorry, but I had no chance, Naruto. Uchiha was too powerful. I would have been squashed like a bug."

Naruto grit his teeth in frustration. If Sai died, he was going to rip Sasuke apart the next time they met.

"And?" he asked in a calm tone that didn't betray the fury he felt. "How did you manage to escape? The reverse summoning seal takes five seconds to activate. Sasuke would have been able to kill you in those five seconds."

"After the battle, they dumped Sai outside and left him to die. I waited about a minute before rushing out and grabbing Sai's body. Luckily, it didn't seem like that Uzumaki girl was able to detect the yin-yang energies used in your reverse summoning seals. That was probably the only reason I was able to escape with Sai without getting detected."

Naruto just kept shaking his head. "To think that Sai was outclassed by _this _much. From what I'm gathering, Sai was unable to even scratch Sasuke."

"No, Sai put up a decent fight for the first five minutes before Uchiha used some sort of seal to drain Sai of his chakra," Hokuto explained in tears. "It didn't seem to affect me so I was really tempted to go out to try and save him, but even with the use of my chakra, I don't think I could have one. Sai, I'm terribly sorry!"

"N…no d…don't a…apologize, Hokuto," Sai turned to look at him. "D…don't be up…set with Hok…uto, Naruto," Sai wheezed out as blood came out of his mouth. "I…previously o…ordered h…her not to get i…involved if a fight broke out. S…Sasuke…he's dangerous. O…only your n…new techniques will—"

"Shut it, Sai," Naruto ordered firmly. "Don't talk as if you're going to die. If you have time to talk, then concentrate on staying alive. And Hokuto," he didn't look at the girl since he was focusing on healing Sai, "I don't blame you. You made the difficult but the right choice. Like you said, if you had gone out to support Sai in battle, you would have just been slaughtered even with the use of your special chakra. By hiding, you were able to give Sai a chance to survive by bringing him back."

"Can you really heal him?" Hokuto asked urgently.

"Na…Naruto, you know a…as well as I d…do that all my vitals are punctured," Sai rasped out. "Any book w…would t…tell you that I…I'm going to d…die." Naruto didn't feel any better by Sai's poor attempt at a joke. "A…and I…I c…can s…sense it. Your te…techniques are only d…delaying the inevitable. I really w…wanted to see you bring p…peace to the world. We were g…getting so close, too. I'm sorry that my d…death will set you b…back by a few y…years."

Naruto shook his head. "Don't talk like that. You will be there with me when we topple the great village system. You're going to be my right-hand man in our new village. You are _not_ going to die on me, Sai. We started this together and we'll be standing together at the end. We all promised that we were going to create a better world together."

Sai tried to smile at that but fell unconscious from the pain. "Is there anything I can do to help?" Hokuto asked.

Naruto paused and thought for a few seconds. "Guard me. This house isn't very secure. I didn't set up security measures because I didn't want to publicize that I'm a fuinjutsu master. So there's a minute chance that someone could walk in. There's something I going to try, but it's going to leave me vulnerable for some time."

Naruto closed his eyes stood completely still as Hokuto nodded and left the room. Naruto slowly absorbed nature chakra and mixed it with the yang portion of Kurama's chakra. It was pure vitality imbued with nature's energy. Like Granny Tsunade's Creation Rebirth Technique, pure vitality allowed for faster regeneration rather than repairing of cells and tissue. Even if it succeeded, a year or two would cut down from Sai's natural life span. Furthermore, Naruto had very little experience in splitting Kurama's chakra into its yin and yang components. If he screwed up, there could be a huge explosion of pure physical energy, killing them all. But taking the risk was a small price to pay at this point. Naruto wasn't going to let another one of his friends die.

_Crash!_

_What the hell was that?!_ Naruto thought in panic. As Naruto drew in more nature chakra, he became more in tune with what was around him. _Crap! Sakura is here! Shit, of all the people, it had to be one of the few people skilled enough to sneak up on me when I have my guard down! _

Judging by the clash of metal outside the door, Hokuto and Sakura were fighting. Sakura must have overheard everything and was probably not taking things well. Even after all these years, she overreacted when she heard Sasuke's name being brought up. Furthermore, she had heard that Naruto, her last remaining teammate, wasn't loyal to Konoha.

Naruto growled. There was nothing he could do now. He was still in the process of transferring vitality to Sai and abruptly ending that process could be fatal. He would have to count on Hokuto to hold Sakura back.

* * *

**Basement of the Uzumaki Compound, Konoha – January 2, AK 22**

Sakura couldn't hear much from the room since the door was closed, she did hear enough to know that Naruto wasn't loyal to Konoha.

At first, she had been concerned that Sai had been injured, but she had been frozen in spot when she heard and felt _Naruto_ of all people using the Mythical Palm Technique.

Since when did Naruto have the control to pull off an incredibly delicate technique?

So she had stood by and tried to gather more information by putting her ear next to the door.

When she heard Naruto's comments about wanting to topple Konoha, she panicked. She already suffered through betrayal once from Sasuke. Her heart was almost irreparably broken from that. There was no way she was going to go through that experience again.

She looked down at the ring on her left hand. She wasn't going to lose another person she loved.

She would have to confront Naruto now and stop him herself.

Sakura was about to open the door when…

_Crack…_

Sakura instinctively jumped back as the door opened and crashed into one of the tables near her.

_Crash!_

_Crap! Now Naruto's going to know I'm here. _

She took out a kunai and got ready to defend herself but found herself surrounded by a strange pink chakra.

Fortunately, it hadn't been Naruto who had just opened the door—he was still busy trying to save Sai—but it was the girl she had heard. Sakura summoned her strength and broke out of the strange chakra construct.

Sakura glanced at the girl's forehead protector. "Hoshi? Wasn't Hoshi destroyed in the last war?"

"Sakura Haruno," the girl said as she made an unusual hand sign. Pink chakra flared up behind her like a peacock's tail. "Why are you here?"

The girl's deadly tone brought Sakura back to the situation. Right now, Sakura was considered a spy who had been caught. Naruto and his associates would consider her hostile.

Sakura knew she had to end this quickly. She glanced inside the room before jumping backwards. Whatever technique Naruto was using was leaving him immobile. Judging by the harsh look on the face of the female ninja in front of her, it didn't seem that Naruto or his associates were just going to talk to her about this.

Plan B. She had to go inform Kakashi-sensei about this.

She turned and ran towards the staircase.

"You're not escaping! Peacock Method: Phoenix!"

Sakura had to dodge as a pink translucent chakra bird cut off her path and shot a stream of pure chakra at her.

Sakura turned to look at the girl. It looked like a fight was inevitable.

Well, back to plan A.

The first time she was betrayed, she didn't get a chance to stop her teammate.

Her eyes hardened and her fists tightened.

This time would be different.

* * *

**Basement of the Uzumaki Compound, Konoha – January 2, AK 22**

"Shannaro!"

Hokuto managed to avoid most of the kick, but she still took a blow to her left arm. Not even acknowledging the intense pain she felt, she quickly jumped out of the way as the pink-hair girl twisted her body as soon as she landed and launched a couple dozen projectiles.

Hokuto shaped her chakra into a shield that blocked most of them.

She ignored the few cuts she received on her legs. Now wasn't the time to worry about flesh wounds.

"Peacock Method: Falcon!"

Her current chakra apparition was the fastest one she had and she sent it charging at the girl.

Her eyes widened as soon as the falcon passed through the pink-haired medic.

_Shit! Genjutsu! _

Hokuto broke it and quickly looked to the stairs to see if her opponent was trying to escape. Unfortunately, that left her open to Haruno's punch when she jumped out from behind her.

Hokuto went flying into the wall.

_Thud!_

Hokuto looked around the room as she pulled herself off the ground as she took heavy breaths. It was extremely fortunate that Naruto had the foresight to make his basement incredibly huge and far deep into the earth. And furthermore, it was incredibly sturdy; Naruto had once said that he wanted to make sure his basement could withstand a couple high-grade explosive tags.

But unfortunately, that made the pain of hitting the walls much worse.

The pink-haired girl was strong.

Incredibly strong.

Sakura Haruno definitely lived up to her legend.

Hokuto really had no chance, but had no other option. She couldn't fail Naruto a second time. She stood up and called forth her chakra.

Hokuto had been bitter and jaded when she ran into Naruto again after the war. Each of the great villages hadn't even cared when her village had been destroyed; they had been more eager to recruit her for her special powers rather than give her time to grieve. Kumo, a village that regularly hoarded whatever techniques and bloodline users they got their hands one, especially, pursued her.

She hadn't been interested. She was more interested in taking care of the few civilian survivors of her village who had been out of the village when the bijuu bomb had hit during the war. She had worked as an independent contractor for years, taking on dangerous and sometimes even shady missions to help provide for the few villagers she was responsible for.

She was shocked when ran into Naruto again, the boy she had a small crush on when she was younger. She had long since gotten over that minor crush—a crush on a boy from another village just wasn't realistic—but she was still dismayed when she had learned that _her_ mission had required her to be his enemy. When she confronted him, he took her out in less than thirty seconds. He apologized for making her fail her mission and as both an apology and a sign of goodwill, he donated quite a lot of money to her villagers and told her that he was always there for support.

After that, she didn't even take a full minute to think and had eagerly offered to help him in whatever way she could.

The espionage mission with Sai had been her first real mission for Naruto. It was a shame that it had ended in such a disaster. It was up to her to at least buy Naruto enough breathing room to save Sai. If the cost was her life, then she would gladly give it.

Hokuto extended her hand and willed her chakra to block the incredibly punch that Haruno threw.

Hokuto flared her chakra even more, beyond the level that was safe for her body. She didn't care. There was no way she was going to let this girl, a girl who had the _honor _of being loved by such a great guy, ruin everything he was working for.

"Peacock Method: Wings!"

* * *

**Basement of the Uzumaki Compound, Konoha – January 2, AK 22**

Naruto looked at the girl he had loved for most of his life and held his arm out to stop Hokuto from attacking Sakura any further.

It was also to protect Hokuto from his girlfriend.

Hokuto was already bleeding in multiple places. She had a broken arm and leg and looked completely fatigued even after only ten minutes of battle. She was a capable ninja, but she didn't stand a chance against Sakura. Hokuto was strong for a jounin, perhaps close to being A-rank. Sakura, however, was borderline _S-rank_. And the biggest gap in the rankings system was between A and S. If Hokuto attacked again, there was a good chance that she would get killed.

"Join us," Naruto said in a serious tone.

Sakura panted lightly as she stood back and gave him an angry look. "Join _you_? That sounds like something Orochimaru would say to his lackeys."

Naruto didn't rise to the bait. He was already angry because of plenty of other reasons. He didn't need to get worked up even more.

"You know as well as I do that this village system is broken. I'm trying to fix that," Naruto explained patiently.

"And I'm trying to bring you back to your senses," Sakura shot back. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions. You're walking the same path as Madara, Orochimaru, Itachi, and Obito. They both thought their method of living was the only answer."

Naruto shook his head. "It's too late for that. Within a year or two, I'm going to change this world, Sakura. I'm going destroy the corruption that seeps throughout the entire ninja world and create the foundation for a new world order. One where people don't have to suffer."

"A false utopia?" Sakura snorted with derision. "That's the same thing that Madara and Obito wanted. The Infinite Tsukuyomi where everyone got what they wanted in life."

Naruto gave her a sad smile. "I'm not trying to create a world without suffering, Sakura. There will always be pain and those painful moments make us all stronger, but that doesn't mean that there has to be slavery. That doesn't mean that the governments of the great villages and nations have to take advantage of the poor and the weak just to stuff their pockets with gold. That doesn't mean that there needs to be people like me, people like _jinchuuriki_. Those things need to go. For good."

"And you feel so strongly about this that you have to betray _me_ as well? Eh, Naruto?" Sakura fired back with angry tears. "Don't you love me?!"

"I'm not betraying you," Naruto said impassively, tone of voice not betraying the anger and frustration he was feeling from the accusation. His expression softened. "And I do love you. I'm giving you the chance to stand by me. You said it sounds similar to what Orochimaru might say. Perhaps that's true," Naruto admitted, ignoring an indignant outburst from Hokuto, "but I don't care about your talents. Even if you chose not to fight or to heal, I would still want you next to me, Sakura."

She shook her head. "Konoha is my home. It's where I was born and where I grew up. It's where all my friends live and it's the place that I will die for. I would think that you would understand that, you idiot," Sakura yelled. "You're betraying the place that your own father gave his life for!"

Naruto clenched his fists tightly, quelling the fury that simmered just beneath the surface. He already had a friend almost die today. Now it appeared as if he was going to lose the woman he loved.

"No," he hissed. "My father died to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. That was his Will of Fire. The will to protect. The will to stand up against evil. The will to search for peace and understanding. He made me into Kurama's host because he believed that Konoha embodies that will as well. And what was the first thing that Konoha did?" Naruto paused and raised his killer intent. "They ostracized me and even made multiple attempts on my life. The self-satisfied fools were willing to throw away the sacrifice that my father made and spit on his final wishes."

"They were civilians, Naruto. They don't know any better!"

Naruto scoffed at that. Typical ninja arrogance. Even from someone like Sakura who had a civilian background. Civilians were weak, but they weren't _children_ who "didn't know any better."

"No, you're wrong," he shook his head, "No homeless orphan or widow hurt me. _Ever._" Naruto's eyes flashed red and Sakura stepped back in fear for the first time. Naruto could tell that she was finally realizing what was at stake. "The people who were _truly _suffering were too consumed by their own troubles and struggles that they didn't have time to worry about someone like me. No," he shook his head again, "The only ones who did were the ones who had everything going for them: food, shelter, jobs, living families, and in many cases, governmental power. Kurama's attack on the village may have hurt them. They may have lost loved ones. But, their own lives were still blessed and prosperous compared to many others. A widow doesn't have the money to get drunk and attack children, Sakura. An orphan doesn't deny me promotions and bribe small-businesses to throw me out just because I was once the container of the most powerful bijuu in existence."

"So this is all for revenge?" Sakura asked. "I thought you were above that. You're only sinking down to their level."

"No, it's not about revenge. I only brought it up to show you examples of how the system was broken. I'm going to fix it. The ones making my life miserable were the ones who thought they were above the Third's laws. His advisors. The village councilors. The richest merchants who bribe officials for favors. The damn system gave them that power. The power they still use _today_ to trample on the weak. I've forgiven people for how they treated me, but I will _not_ stand and watch as they extort and threaten those they consider beneath them."

"That's vigilante justice, Naruto," Sakura argued. "You can't just judge them like that. If you really want to change things, you can always wait until you're the—"

Naruto laughed mirthlessly at that. "We've had six different Hokages try to change things in just _one_ village. They all failed. What makes you think I can using the same tactics they did? No, I have to do this differently." Naruto gave her a bitter smile. "Did you know that I funded the orphanages in Konoha? Did you know that half of my pay goes towards a safety net for the poor, sick, disabled, and widowed?"

Sakura's eyes softened at that. "No, I didn't."

Naruto shook his head. "I don't need your awkward apology or acknowledgment. I don't want your respect. I want you to _understand_. For decades, the Hokages failed. For the last six years, _I_ failed. Much of the money I poured into the orphanages went towards lobbying instead of the children. The safety net I created is more likely to be used as an emergency fund during war than something that helps those who need it in times of peace. This village has failed its most vulnerable. The other villages are the same. I'm going to strip the villages of their power and hand it to the people. I'm going to make sure that the haves can no longer abuse the have-nots. I've given up trying to do that through Konoha's system."

"You're still betraying Konoha. You've changed," Sakura accused, now openly sobbing. "You were never supposed to give up. You were the one who said you'd never go back on your word. _You_ were the one who shouted to the world that you wanted to become Hokage. Weren't you going to change the Hyuuga clan? Weren't you going to bring light to what really happened with the Uchiha clan? Weren't you going to be Konoha's greatest protector? In the end, those were all lies. In the end, you just ended up like Sasuke, you asshole," Sakura viciously spat out. "What else did you lie about? Your love for me? Was that a lie, too?

Naruto saw red at that. Sasuke had been the one to cause so much pain in this world. Naruto was trying to _protect_ the goddamn world and she was comparing him to _Sasuke_? And she _dared to _question how much he loved her?

He glared at her coldly. "You say that I'm the one who's betraying you. I'm the one who loved you no matter what you did. I loved you despite you insulting me, hitting me, using me. I didn't care. I didn't care that you were from a civilian family and didn't have a fancy clan name. I didn't care that your parents were one of the worst people to me in my childhood. I didn't hold it against you when you always held us back when we were genin. I didn't care that you started dating me only _after _it was certain that I was going to become a clan head. I didn't care that your main reservations with dating me was that people doubted my intelligence and would look down upon you if you dated such an _idiot_. I didn't care that you used me to quell your own insecurities. I didn't care that you never truly loved me. I loved you _unconditionally_. I even explained my goals to you now without just abandoning you like our old teammate did," Naruto didn't even want to say Sasuke's name right now, "I even gave you a chance to join me. But no, all of that was never enough for you, was it?" Naruto shook his head in disgust, "Sakura Haruno," he said in a deadly tone, "we are done."

She nodded with a final sob and slipped the ring he had given her off her hand. He raised an eyebrow at her. He had been so distracted by everything that he hadn't even seen it on her hand. "Never truly loving you?" She blinked the tears out of her eyes. "I was going to say yes, you fool, but I see that I never knew you."

Sakura crushed the ring in her palm with her strength.

He snapped. He was a millisecond away from attacking her when he heard a thump next to him. He turned and looked at the source of the sound. Hokuto had just collapsed. He could see that her skin was pale and turning a bit blue.

His anger towards everything that had happened that night quickly gave way to worry for his friend and follower.

"Hokuto! Get a hold of yourself!"

Sakura smiled cruelly at him. "I poisoned her during our battle earlier. You have two options. You can try to save her with whatever medical technique you were able to learn. Or you can try to stop me on my way to Kakashi-sensei's office. I don't know what you did to heal Sai so quickly when he was on the verge of death but I know for certain that you can't do it again for some time so you'll have to heal her the long way. You can probably kill me in a minute, but that's a minute you could be using to save her. And you can't just make copies of yourself either. You know better than anyone that shadow clones and medical ninjutsu are incompatible." She paused for a moment at that thought. "Kind of like you and me, if you think about it."

"You're not getting away," he growled out in frustration as she left in a hurry. "I'll be sure to catch up to you, Sakura. You were right about one thing; you never really knew who I was."

Naruto looked down at his friend. _I know that if you were conscious, you would insist that I abandon you here, but I'd be betraying everything I'm trying to work for if I just left you just to maintain my cover. Hold on, Hokuto, I'll heal you._

* * *

**Alleys, Konoha – January 2, AK 22**

Sakura ran as fast as she could towards the Hokage Tower. Her shadow clone was heading off towards Kakashi-sensei's house.

She had to get the news to the Hokage before Naruto caught up with her.

Sakura was no fool. While the poison she used was lethal, it hadn't been long since she poisoned the Hoshi ninja. Any medic worth their salt would be able to extract the poison in a matter of minutes. The girl would still eventually die from the trace amount of poison in her system without the antidote, but Naruto would have enough of a breathing room to leave the girl and start chasing after her.

She figured that she had a five-minute head start on Naruto.

She only needed _one_ more to arrive at the Tower.

"You've gotten faster."

Her heart froze when she recognized the voice. She wasn't even able to put up any sort of a fight as Naruto tackled her and slammed her against the wall.

She was so shocked that it didn't register that Naruto had cushioned her head with his hand to prevent her head from hitting the solid brick wall and prevent her from getting seriously hurt.

Had she had the presence of mind to recognize that small show of affection, she might have broken down into tears again.

But right now, her mind was still on the fact that she got caught so quickly.

_How the hell? Impossible, there is no way he's that fast. Even with his Kyuubi Mode, there would have been no way for him to detect me when I don't have any killing intent towards him. I should have just sent a summon instead, even if slugs would have taken a much longer time to get the message to Kakashi-sensei and Naruto would be out of the village by then._ _But like this, no one is ever going to find out._

Naruto must have noticed her confused look because he smirked. He took out a three-pronged kunai and twirled it around.

Her eyes widened. _Hiraishin?_

He must have put a formula seal on her a long time ago while they were still dating!

Naruto had kept _much_ more than the fact that he was a traitor a secret. When did he master the sealing arts to such a degree?

"Shocked that an idiot like me could learn a technique like this?" Naruto mocked. He imitated her voice. "You were probably thinking _but Naruto doesn't know fuinjutsu."_ He paused. "Am I right?"

He was. But Sakura couldn't speak since Naruto was now holding her by the throat. She felt and saw seals being written all over her body.

"I also know you have a shadow clone heading towards Kakashi's house. This little seal will remedy that." Sakura suddenly felt weak as all the chakra in her body disappeared. She was hit with the memories of her shadow clone, which, unfortunately, but obviously, didn't make it to Kakashi's house. "And for the record, even if you had sent a summon, I could have and would have found them all. A little secret about Sage Mode is that it allows me to be a sensor."

Sakura's eyes widened at that. She hadn't known that Sage Mode was so versatile. She had just assumed that Sage Mode was a power-up.

Naruto released her.

She immediately tried to punch him, but he just stared impassively as he took the weak punch to the face. His head didn't even budge.

"What the? There's no way my punch should be that weak even without chakra enhancement," she gasped out, feeling increasingly weaker as the seconds passed.

"Sorry, Sakura, but we're done talking. I can't have you telling anyone about my plans just yet."

She glared at him defiantly despite the lack of energy. "So you're going to kill me? Are you going to break another one of your promises? You promised to protect me _forever_."

She didn't expect him to follow through on that promise now that he was betraying Konoha, but she knew that he had loved her dearly. The thought of killing her had to give him _some_ pause. And there was a small part to her still that hoped that he wouldn't hurt her out of his love for her. A small but dying part.

Naruto shook his head. "At this point, I don't care if you live or die. But unlike the great villages, I don't simply kill people just because I find it more convenient. And I don't need to kill you to keep you quiet."

She chuckled. Of course. He could always keep her imprisoned. "I see. You're going to kidnap me." She fell to her knees as strength continued to leave her body. "Are you going to use me as your personal plaything?" For some strange reason, that didn't sound so bad. She wouldn't mind sleeping with him again. Bondage sounded rather kinky. _What the hell? Where did that thought come from?_ She grit her teeth at that thought. Dear Kami, she was an emotional wreck. She couldn't even decide that if she loved him or hated him right now. _Damn him._ "You _demon,_" she gasped out, overcompensating for that her previously treacherous thoughts.

He didn't react to that familiar insult. He only gave her a sad smile. "I thought I told you that I forgave the villagers for thinking that way about me. That little insult won't work on me anymore."

"How about this one, _d...dead last_?" she tried. She knew she was defeated already, but she was going to go down fighting. Even if fighting meant throwing a bunch of immature insults at her ex-boyfriend's face.

And from what she gathered, Sasuke had been the one to injure Sai. Sasuke's favorite insult for Naruto _had_ to get a reaction.

Nope.

Naruto didn't respond and just shook his head sadly.

Sakura thought about screaming but couldn't even muster up the energy to do so.

Tears started streaming down her face. "I really loved you, Naruto," she managed to breathe out.

She only saw his bitter smile.

"But clearly not enough." She felt his lips gently brush across her own. "For old times' sake." Naruto made some hand signs. "Sleep well, Sakura. And sweet dreams."

She felt a wave of despair as darkness came over her.

In the end, she just ended up being a failure. She couldn't stop either of her teammates from betraying the village.

* * *

**Secret Hospital Room, Konoha – April 11, AK 22**

**(Note the time change again - it's still in the past, however.)**

"Aren't you worried that your wife might catch you? She does have the Byakugan, you know."

Naruto shrugged. "Prototype seals. I'll probably never have confirmation, but these seals should render us invisible to the Byakugan. She'll just see an empty room."

"Well, if she finds out, don't request help from me, Lord Naruto," Sasame said, not entirely trusting his seals.

He snorted and nodded. It wasn't like Sasame ever helped him out against Hanabi to begin with.

Naruto saw the projection of Sai and Ranmaru as he stood with Sasame in a conference room of a hotel.

"Report."

Ranmaru spoke up first. "Sensei, a squad of elites came after me the other day. It was headed by Shikamaru Nara."

Naruto frowned. Konoha must have been more spooked than he thought if they were sending out their smartest tactician and strategist out onto the field.

"And?"

"I was also on that team and managed to warn Ranmaru on time. Everything went smoothly. Kakashi and Shikamaru are both of the opinion that Kokuten is Sasuke."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Raikiri, I presume?"

Ranmaru nodded. "I also tried to fake ocular illusory techniques although they were nowhere near what the Sharingan can do. The precognition in battle, however, was easy enough to imitate."

Naruto rolled his eyes. Of course, that should have been obvious. Ranmaru's eyes probably had better predictive ability than the Sharingan. In any case, it was good that they had thrown Konoha off their trail for now. Hopefully, it would spur Konoha into training their ninjas how to fight against chakra nullifying techniques as well and get them prepared for when Sasuke made his eventual attack.

"Anything else? What about your efforts with yin and yang techniques?"

"I am finally able to use physical energy properly. I believe I'm ready to test it in battle," Sai reported.

"And spiritual energy's been the easiest thing ever!" Ranmaru crowed with excitement. "Thank you so much for teaching me, Naruto-sensei."

Naruto smiled. "Well, Sasame's just started. She seems to be a yang type as well and has been progressing well."

"But my progress is still too slow. Sai, I read your intelligence report on Sasuke Uchiha. It's not going to be easy fighting him," Sasame murmured. "While these techniques don't have a ceiling in terms of power like chakra techniques do, all of us are still novices with these new techniques."

"I agree," Sai nodded. "I have the most experience with Sasuke's current skill-set and know that what I can do won't be enough. It won't be as much of a problem for us as you might think. In our simulations, Sasuke ends up fighting Naruto one hundred percent of the time." Everyone rolled their eyes at that. "All the other match-ups are in our favor as well. Karin and Juugo are Sasuke's lieutenants and any one of us can take them down. Naruto has been training Yuna well enough in long-range and area of effect attacks to deal with the canon fodder fairly well and we have other associates who can help with that as well. Our current skill in yin and yang techniques should be enough to deal with Sasuke's team. The person we really have to worry for is Naruto. Naruto, you're my friend and I believe in you, but you'll need every bit of advantage that you can get. Is there any way you can speed up this training?"

Naruto frowned. "There is."

"Shadow clones?" Sasame inquired.

"No. Shadow clones are ultimately constructs of chakra connected to my pool of chakra. They are unable to separate yin and yang, even with the help of a Dispersion Seal."

"Then?"

Naruto grimaced. "You won't like it. Chakra clones."

Chakra clones were independent clones that had their own supply of chakra and were not connected to him in anyway until they dispelled. They were effectively _real_ clones. Naruto could die and they would still live on until the chakra supply they had ran out.

Because of that, with the help of Dispersion Seals, they would be able to use spiritual energy and physical energy.

"What?" Sasame snapped at him with wide eyes. "_Lord _Naruto," she said the title almost scornfully, "you can't use that technique for something frivolous as training! That cuts down on your life! You promised that you wouldn't abuse that technique when you and Sai invented it!"

He nodded and winced. "I know. Ten clones for one hour cuts down one hour of my life. One hundred clones for one month will cut down ten months of my life. I'll get over eight years of training in exchange of one year of my life."

"Sensei, that's reckless! You can't trade your life for faster training."

"We might not have a choice at this time. I don't know how I match up against Sasuke without any of my chakra. The risks of chakra clones are still theoretical. I'm not completely sure they'll cut down on my life. And I've used them for missions before."

"That's one or two clones, Naruto. Based on our admittedly loose calculations, you could use one for over a week and you'll only lose a day of your life at most. But you're considering using hundreds right now," Sai responded. "That's not a good idea. That is reckless, even for you."

"Too late," Naruto folded his arms, "I've already started using them, two hundred of them. I'll have to regularly let some of them dispel and replace them with new ones so the rest of the clones can build off of each other. It'll also save me the headache that happens if I absorb too much knowledge at once." Naruto said firmly, no longer willing to take the scolding from his friends. "And as for the life-shortening issue. I do have the Uzumaki vitality that will probably let me live longer that most people. So instead of two hundred years, I'll live to one hundred and eighty. Probably one hundred fifty if you take into account that my body's cells are closer to their Hayflick limit from rapid injury and regeneration from using the Version 2 form of Kurama's toxic chakra when I was younger."

Sasame and Ranmaru let out exasperated sighs while Sai just shook his head lightly with an impassive look."What's the Hayflick limit?" Ranmaru asked curiously after a few moments.

"Cells divide only a set number of times in life." Naruto replied. "Regeneration is inherently different from healing in that it creates new cells to replace old ones, but you're cutting down on your life to do that. That's why medical ninjutsu focuses on healing damaged cells rather than making new cells. But we're getting off topic. Is there anything else we need to discuss?"

"Sakura."

Naruto's mood plummeted. He still didn't want to hear about his ex-girlfriend, especially on his honeymoon. "What about her?"

"I'm keeping tabs on her here. I don't have security clearance to enter her room, but from what I gathered, the seal is rapidly deteriorating. It weakening at an exponential rate rather than the linear rate we predicted."

"How bad do you think it is?

"There's been a huge drop in the strength of the seal even in the last few weeks. No one in Konoha can actually see the entire seal or measure its strength, but they're beginning to see alpha waves on the EEG. They're talking as if she might wake up any day now."

Naruto grimaced. He felt guilty about keeping Sakura in biological limbo, but he couldn't afford to have his plans derailed. "I'll send one of my chakra clones to infiltrate and strengthen the seal so it lasts until the winter at the very least. It'll also have the additional benefit of scaring the crap out of Konoha."

* * *

**Secret Hospital Room, Konoha – February 14, AK 23**

**(AN: Note the time change yet again. This takes place a few months into the future.)**

Ino sat down next to her best friend. Over a year had passed since Sakura first entered the coma. As a general trend, Sakura _was_ getting better, no doubt, but no one still truly knew if and when Sakura was ever going to get up.

"The Chuunin Exams are taking place in Konoha again, Sakura," Ino murmured. She had taken the proactive approach that and came to visit at least once a week. There were studies done showing that talking to comatose patients could improve the prognosis. The results weren't significant, but Ino figured that talking to Sakura couldn't hurt.

It was also a convenient way of getting away from all the responsibilities that she had and the harsh realities of the world.

Life was ultimately pointless, Ino had long since decided. Life just marched on. It didn't care whether people succeeded or failed. It didn't stop to see if people were happy or sad. Life just rolled on.

Kids became adults. Adults became parents and had kids. Rinse, wash, repeat.

That was life.

All significant events, while serious at the time, were forgotten with more time. The Third Ninja War was said to be the bloodiest war in the history of the Elemental Nations, yet barely anyone remember it now. The Fourth Ninja War was said to be the war to end all wars yet tensions were growing between the nations once more.

It was all just…

…pointless.

So that's why Ino decided to live her life for the moment. She decided to treasure what was there for her instead of looking back to a past that would soon be forgotten or to a future that wasn't even certain. She would try to derive joy and meaning in the fleeting moment of the present.

She would take whatever life threw at her in stride and as Naruto often said, "go with the flow."

It was probably for the best.

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Ino jumped up. What was going on? She looked at the EEG monitor. Up until now, the monitor had shown alternating patterns of theta and delta waves. That is—Sakura was in a state of sleep. It was better than a constant state of delta-like waves, which represented a coma, but now Sakura was beginning to show alpha and beta waves.

Sakura was waking up!

She instantly went into medic mode and rang the bell.

"Yes?" she heard as one of the full-time medics came in.

"Get Shizune-sempai. Tell her that Sakura is waking up."

The medic's eyes widened and run out as fast as she could.

Ino smiled with tears in her eyes. Her friend was coming back!

She heard a groan coming from her friend on the bed. Ino grabbed Sakura's hand. "Sakura?" she asked urgently. "Can you hear me?"

Sakura slowly opened her eyes and blinked several times. Then, to Ino's shock, Sakura's eyes grew wide. "Ino?"

Ino nodded. "Yes? You—"

"Naruto. Naruto is a traitor."

* * *

AN: I already know I'm going to get a lot of complaints about this. Some people will say that Naruto betrayed Sakura first or that the betrayal wasn't severe enough.

Some people will complain about the scenes themselves. I'll probably get comments saying that there wasn't enough hostility or there was too much lingering love. That was the point. Breakups are often messy. People become emotional messes. I was trying to portray that.

This is made worse because Naruto and Sakura are both sensitive and emotionally fragile when it comes to love. Sakura is highly insecure and _romanticizes_ love (the whole prince coming to her rescue thing). On the other hand, Naruto_ idealizes_ love. He fully hoped that Sakura would eventually give him that same unconditional love he showed to her. Unconditional love = love no matter what. Most parents show a type of unconditional love to their children. Their children could fail school, steal from a local bank, go commit twenty felonies in a row, and they'll still love their children.

Unfortunately, romantic love, especially in our day and age, is _not_ unconditional. "I love you because you make me feel good." "I love you because you're nice." "I love you because you're funny." "I love you because you treat me well." That's the attitude most people have.

Who loves their significant other because...well "just because"? No one, right?

Romantic love is often _self-serving _in nature. Unconditional love is sacrificial in nature. So when Sakura didn't agree to follow Naruto, Naruto took that as a sign that Sakura not truly love him for who he really was. And he's right. Sakura only loved Naruto because he was so good to her over the years. That's not necessarily a bad thing. It's still a form of love and it's perfectly natural, but it's not _unconditional_ love.

Until next time...

Credits: Thanks to TheOneSage for beta-reading this.


	21. Abduction - Bird Trap

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. This is fanfiction, after all.

* * *

AN: The first part of this will be a scene set in the past. The next part of it will be scenes linked with the next two chapter.

The events in this chapter and the next two will not be in strict chronological order. They will be in _general_ chronological order, but will have some overlaps in time. I wrote out the general time of day for your benefit, but it's probably not going to make everything clear until you see all three chapters. The strange ordering for the scenes in these chapters was done strictly for story-telling purposes. I tried to figure out another way, but I couldn't.

* * *

See the Q&A section below.

* * *

**Kabuto's base, Oto – December 21, AK 21 (Note: This is in the past)  
**

Over the years, Kabuto had gone through Orochimaru's research on Sage Rikudo and his two sons. It was a poorly kept secret that both the Uchiha and the Hyuuga clans were descended from the older son. While Orochimaru had been far more interested in the copying ability of the Sharingan, he did wonder why the Byakugan was so underpowered compared to the Sharingan, which had multiple levels of evolution.

Kabuto kept researching and finally found his answer: the Byakugan too had multiple levels.

That meant that Kabuto had to get his hands on a Main House Hyuuga. He already had cell cultures of Uzumaki cells and Senju cells in his body and had great strength and vitality as a result. Unfortunately, the powers of the older son of Sage Rikudo didn't manifest by simple gene splicing. He needed the actual eyes themselves.

Sasuke was too powerful and had completely disappeared from the Elemental Nations. So the Sharingan was out. One of his subordinates had a dojutsu of sorts but testing showed that those were unrelated to Sage Rikudo's powers. So that bloodline was out.

That only left the Byakugan. And the cherry on top of the cake was that even the relatively weaker Byakugan now had an advanced level like the Mangekyou Sharingan.

Unfortunately, the only problem was that it was almost as hard to get a hold of the Byakugan as the Sharingan. There were many more Byakugan eyes than the three Sharingan eyes out there in the world, but thanks to the Cage Bird Seal that sealed up the abilities if the person died or if the eyes were removed from the body, the number of eyes that Kabuto could use was drastically decreased.

And there was the problem with activation of this new advanced level that he discovered.

In Kabuto's opinion, the advanced level of the Byakugan was harder to activate than the Mangekyou Sharingan. An Uchiha had a rather straightforward method: kill his or her best friend. The pain of the loss of a loved one increased the levels of chakra in an Uchiha's eyes and brain. On the other hand, a Hyuuga had to experience complete despair and hopelessness.

But what defined complete despair was different for different people. Was it homelessness? Or was it imprisonment? Or perhaps, like the Uchiha, loss of loved ones? If Kabuto stole the Byakugan, just what did he have to do to activate those eyes?

It had been a puzzle that he had been working on for some months.

He was currently working on a project that would splice Uchiha genes into a Hyuuga's body in hopes to change the requirement for activation to killing of a best friend. He certainly didn't have a best friend, but he could certainly try killing everyone near him to see if the eyes evolved.

"Lord Kabuto."

He turned around in frustration. Who dared to bother him while he was working?

"What is it?" he said silkily, leaking a bit of killing intent to show that he was not pleased.

"Ah…there is a man who wants to see you…"

Kabuto raised his eyebrow. How did whoever it was manage to find his hideout? While this person made no efforts to sneak in and instead called out for Kabuto's subordinates, it was still unsettling that the man was able to locate where his base was.

Kabuto went out to his throne room where the visitor was waiting.

"Yes?" Kabuto asked curtly, making sure not to drop his guard. What piqued his interest was that the messenger was a Branch House Hyuuga.

The Hyuuga clan wanted audience with him? There was something strange going on here.

"I am a messenger from Lord Sakuma Hyuuga. He wishes to speak with you."

Kabuto raised one eyebrow. Sakuma Hyuuga? One of the elders in the Hyuuga clan?

"Why isn't your master here then?"

The messenger didn't respond but unrolled a scroll in front of him. "Activate!"

He watched in fascination as a projection of Sakuma came up. "Ah, Kabuto, you left my messenger alive. You're much more reasonable that Orochimaru. I heard that he would kill anyone and _then_ ask questions."

Kabuto just stared impassively at that for a few seconds. This _fool_ was underestimating him because he didn't carry a title like the Legendary Three. Kabuto was tempted to roll his eyes. The Hyuuga clan put too much stock into meaningless titles. In the end, what mattered was the possession of power, not respect or acknowledgment.

Well then, it was time to see what he could get and how he could manipulate this situation to his advantage.

"Greetings, Lord Hyuuga." Kabuto said with a tilt of his head.

"You're probably wondering how I managed to find you," Sakuma said calmly. Kabuto gave no response as the man went on. "My Byakugan has evolved." Kabuto rarely showed his surprise, but at _that_, his eyes widened. Impossible! It had been what he was aiming to obtain for months! "My Byakugan has evolved and I can see your base from where I am now."

"I see…"

Kabuto's excitement at being so close to one of his goals dropped a bit when he realized that Sakuma had not come in person on purpose. Sakuma was a cautious one. The man knew of Orochimaru's obsession with the Sharingan and had wisely taken precautions in case Kabuto was interested in a similar dojutsu.

"But that isn't the point," Sakuma said firmly. "I am here to make a deal with you."

"Oh? A deal? What can someone like me have anything to offer to you, Lord Hyuuga? I am but the head of a humble research base."

"Don't waste my time with that drivel," Sakuma scoffed. "I'm here to offer you the Byakugan."

That sounded _too _good to be true.

"And the price?"

"Invade Konoha. I will arrange for you to collect the princesses."

Kabuto laughed at that as a plan began to form in his head.

If Sakuma wanted both heiresses removed, then he was making a move to become the head of the Hyuuga clan.

Greed. Those new eyes of his must have gotten to his head.

Kabuto could deal with that.

"Lord Sakuma, you must take me for a fool. Attacking Konoha when Naruto Uzumaki is guarding it would be sheer insanity. I would not make it out alive."

The Hyuuga elder didn't look too happy.

"I merely want you to cause enough confusion so that the village calls out the Hyuuga clan to investigate. The Hyuuga clan security will then be low, leaving you free to kidnap the two Hyuuga heiresses. Surely, you would not give up the chance to obtain the most powerful bloodline in the world."

Kabuto shook his head. "I am just running a research lab here, Lord Sakuma. I have neither the inclination nor the ability to carry out such a task. In fact, I just want to isolate myself from the world and carry out my experiments. It _would_ be a shame that I won't be able to study the Byakugan, but I value my life more than even my research."

"I can reveal your presence here," Sakuma threatened. "I can see evidence of human experimentation. Konoha will come running at you like a rabid dog."

Kabuto smirked. That wasn't a problem at all. After all, Kabuto had plenty of other bases in the country. Sakuma just happened to chance by one of them. "Then please do so. I believe, however, that you'll have to answer many questions about how you manage to obtain that information, Lord Sakuma. You will have to reveal _your _secret that you have an advanced form of the Byakugan. I am not entirely in the dark about what it would have taken to activate those eyes of yours. Was your form of despair that you would never get your hands on the power that you so deeply believe is yours?"

It was a shot in the dark, but Kabuto knew he struck gold when the man grit his teeth.

Too easy. The man was a simpleton if something like that put despair into his heart.

What a fool.

"Very well, Kabuto. Our business here is done. I have better use of my time than to speak with ungrateful trash who refuse to accept gifts that could change their lives. You lost your chance to get your filthy hands on the greatest bloodline in the history of the Elemental Nations."

Kabuto snorted as the projection disappeared. The Hyuuga was both delusion and narcissistic. The _Sharingan_ was the greatest bloodline, not the Byakugan.

He looked at the messenger who was rolling up the scroll and beginning to leave.

Kabuto smirked. "Well, messenger for Sakuma, where do you think you're going?"

The messenger slowly backed away when he realized that Kabuto wasn't going to let him go. "It's pointless for you to keep me here. My master will activate the Cage Bird Seal if I am late by even ten minutes. I am useless to you."

"Useless? Oh I think not. But don't worry," Kabuto chuckled as he flashed through some hand signs and summoned a snake, "you'll make it back on time. I promise."

With that, Kabuto walked away.

Behind him, Hyuuga messenger screamed as the snake entered his mouth and took control of his body.

* * *

**Konoha's East Gate, Konoha – April 30, AK 22 (morning) - (Note: back to the present)  
**

Hanabi sat calmly in the palanquin next to her husband, looking every bit like a queen. She had her hair shaped in the same way as Mito Uzumaki and was wearing the traditional white and turquoise-blue robe of the Uzumaki nobles, with a thin gold crown on her head and long golden earrings depicting her status as the highest woman in the Uzumaki clan.

For the last month, she had gotten to know and understand Naruto on a level she never could have imagined. More and more, she realized that her early assumptions of him had been spot on. He was hiding a tremendous amount from everyone. Naruto had never noticed, but Hanabi had kept an eye on him at almost all times. She found that every spare bit of time he had, he was either reading historical books or writing down his thoughts. If not studying or meditating, he was practicing little techniques, using wind to cut down a pineapple or to manipulate the shape of a volume of water suspended above his hand. Each of those times, he had passed it off as a joke or something cool he wanted to do to impress her, but she wasn't fooled; he was practicing, planning, thinking.

Every second of his life was dedicated to improving himself in some way.

She glanced at him. Even now, as he sat with her, dressed in his brilliant black and gold kimono, she could feel him manipulating the wind to keep them from becoming too hot, a manual form of air conditioning. Most people probably wouldn't have noticed it—such was his skill with the wind—but most people also did not have the Byakugan to watch him at all times.

"My Lord. My Lady."

Hanabi opened the sliding window on the palanquin and looked at her orange-haired attendant. "Yes? What is it Sasame?"

"We've arrived. The gatekeepers are asking for identification."

"Very well. Naruto and I will step out."

She and Naruto stepped out and faced the gatekeepers. She was tempted to snort when she saw that it was still Izumo and Kotetsu. Despite their near jounin-level strength, the two of them had no ambition to advance in their careers and were more than willing to laze around at the gate.

"Holy crap! Naruto?! Hanabi?! Is that you?!" Izumo shouted in surprise.

"The two of you look like royalty!" Kotetsu chirped.

She gave them a sharp look. Did they forget that she was a princess of the Hyuuga clan before marrying Naruto?

Izumo held his hands up as he got a sheepish look on his face. "Oh right. I forgot. Hanabi, you already were like royalty for your entire life."

Naruto gave a small pout at that. "What? No apology to me? I'm supposed to be the clan head here!"

Kotetsu thumped Naruto on the back while checking their paper identifications. "Oh come on, Naruto. We've been buddies for such a long time. It's a little too difficult to see you as someone like…well…_Lord Hyuuga_. No offense, Hanabi."

"None taken," she said simply. It was true. Naruto was bright, casual, and loud. He was the antithesis of her father in appearance and personality.

Naruto laughed heartily at the comment. "I understand. I like acting like a regular person anyway. In any case, just to provide absolute proof that I'm Naruto and make your jobs easier, here. Rasengan," Naruto said as he held up a ball of chakra. Hanabi turned on her Byakugan, more to see what Naruto was doing rather than as her method of proof.

_He's practicing again. The multiple chakra streams in that Rasengan are spinning at three times the speed than usual._

She turned her eyes off and addressed the two chuunin. "These are our servants, we…um…hired them before we left, but picked them up after we left Konoha."

They nodded in understanding. Slaves typically had no identification. The only thing that was necessary was the proof of purchase from the owners and the mark on their arms. Each village had a chakra detector that would confirm the presence of the chakra in the slave marks in their arms. The use of slave marks was disgusting, Hanabi acknowledged, but that was just the way of the world. At the very least, they weren't under the constant threat of death like the Hyuuga Branch House members were from the Caged Bird Seals.

Naruto made a clone and turned to all their servants.

"Everyone, follow my clone to the Uzumaki compound! My clone will direct you on what to do once you get there and help you get set up. There's a lot of space in my mansion so don't be shy about taking a particularly large room or something. If you finish unpacking your stuff, take the entire day off! I should be free tonight so I'll treat you all to dinner!"

There were smiles and words of gratitude at that. Hanabi herself had a smile on her face. Naruto treated all of them as if they were members of his family rather than servants. She…she really got lucky with who she ended up marrying. It was almost unfair to all the other girls out there.

Almost.

The real Naruto turned to her. "Hanabi, you ready to go see the masked bastard and announce to the village that the most kickass couple ever in the history of Konoha is back?"

Judging by his excitement, he was in one of his moods today. The mood to annoy someone to the point of insanity.

She just rolled her eyes as him and yelped when he picked her up and flashed away.

* * *

**Mission Assignment Center, Konoha – April 30, AK 22 (morning)**

"But my lord, Naruto won't be here for another three days! He is still on his honeymoon!"

Kakashi groaned. He hated dealing with civilian royalties. At least ninja clan nobles had some semblance of common sense even if they were more arrogant.

The Fire Daimyo had made a last minute visit with his wife to "borrow" Naruto for a week or so. Apparently the Daimyo's granddaughter had turned sixteen and had demanded that her birthday present be a week with the Golden Sun of Konoha.

"But I heard that ninjas can do amazing things like teleport hundreds of kilometers in one second!" Madame Shijimi wailed. "Oh honey, the Hokage is refusing our request! What do we tell our little Megumi?"

"Your Majesty, it is clear that Konoha is trying to use this situation to their advantage so they can obtain more funding! Our lord must teach them respect!" One of the four advisors who had come with the Daimyo said in a dramatic voice.

"Teach them respect, sire!" The other three chanted together.

Another advisor spoke up. "Lord! Our lord has given Konoha his unconditional support for all these years and they spit in our lord's face. Punish them, sire!"

"Punish them, sire!" The other three said in unison while bowing their heads down.

Kakashi started twitching in annoyance at the sheer idiocy of the situation and the dramatic tone that the advisors were using. And he could never figure out how they spoke in unison without any secret signals.

But that didn't change the fact that there was no way they could get the news to Naruto in time. Even by the fastest carrier pigeon, it would take a day or two to get news to the Land of the Moon. Days they did not have. The Daimyo was demanding it be done in the next _hour_.

After an hour of "discussion," the Daimyo was clearly tired of being told no as well. With a stern voice, he said, "We understand that Our appearance may have been an…" there was a dangerous pause, "inconvenience for you, Sixth. Do this favor for Us and Konoha shall be rewarded." Another pause; "However, deny Us this request and you shall find Our wrath fall upon your village. As a sign of grace, We shall extend the time you have to fulfill Our request until sundown. We believe it is a fair compromise."

With that the Daimyo, his yes-men, and his wife turned and left.

Shizune stepped towards him from the side of the room where she had been watching. "What are we going to do, Kakashi? There's no way we can get in contact with Naruto."

Kakashi didn't respond. He was too busy banging his head on the desk. "Why did I ever decide to become the Hokage?" He glared at the now giggling assistant and lover. "This is all your master's fault. She always did hate me for reading _Icha Icha_. This must be her way of getting me back."

"If it's any consolation, Lady Tsunade didn't like dealing with them either."

"I'm not consoled by that at all," he groaned. "What are we going to—"

_Slam! Swoosh!_

"Naruto!" he heard. "Do not carry me like that."

_Thud!_

"And that didn't mean you were supposed to drop me!"

"Women!" the blonde wailed dramatically while on his knees. "You just can't win with them. Give them what they don't want and they complain but then give them what they want and they complain even more."

Kakashi just stared at the bickering couple as a sweat drop formed on his head. He turned to Shizune. "I haven't gone crazy, right?" He pointed at the formally dressed couple. "You're seeing what I'm seeing, right? This isn't some kind of mirage, right?"

Shizune nodded dumbly.

Kakashi didn't know whether to break down and cry in relief or jump up and shout for joy. His prayer was answered!

"Naruto!" he said in a serious tone. "What happened? How are you back so early?"

The couple stopped fighting and looked at him. Hanabi must have realized where she was because she met his gaze and then flushed as she put her face down in a respectful manner. It was then that he really noticed how the two looked. The two looked the part of nobles. Both were dressed in the traditional clothes of the Uzumaki clan. Hanabi looked especially nice, with a crown on her head and her hair set up in buns like the First Hokage's wife.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked in a confused voice. "We're back from our honeymoon."

"A few days early?" Kakashi asked with a raised eye. "Not that I'm complaining since I have a mission—"

"Listen here, you masked pervert!" Naruto yelled indignantly with a finger pointed at him. Kakashi was suddenly reminded of Naruto's younger days when he would call for everyone's attention and shout to the world that he would become Hokage. "You promised me that I had until next week with no missions. Don't try to cheat me out of my hard-earned vacation days! I even compromised and took only a little over a month off. Now you're trying to renege on our deal!"

Kakashi groaned, not even bothering to wonder how and when Naruto learned the word "renege." Naruto chose the worst time to be stubborn. "Naruto, this is an emergency. The Daimyo wants you to be his present to his granddaughter. You need to go satisfy her now."

There was a pause before Kakashi thought about how he phrased his words. It was really poorly worded. He hoped that Naruto didn't misunderst—

There was a huge burst of killing intent that filled the room. Kakashi wasn't too bothered by it, as he had felt worse throughout his life…

…except the killing intent wasn't coming from his blond student.

Kakashi turned to look at a furious Hanabi. _Ah I see…someone became a rather possessive wife…_He internally smirked. _It must have been quite a nice honeymoon if their relationship has progressed this far_.

His mood immediately plummeted, however, when he was reminded of the potential conspiracy going on with the Hyuuga clan. Everywhere he turned he was reminded of just how much he hated the job of being Hokage.

"Eh?" The boy was patting his wife on the head in a failing attempt to calm her down. "Didn't you tell him that I'm on my honeymoon?"

Kakashi nodded before he remembered something else. Naruto had arrived into the room with something that appeared remarkably like the_ Hiraishin_. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"Before we get to that, I have something else to ask you. Since when did you know the Hiraishin?"

"Huh?" Naruto thought for a second. "Um…since…um…never really used it…why? Why do you ask?"

Kakashi rolled his eyes although they would only see one of them rolling. "How did you get into my office just now?"

Hanabi chimed in. "I never got to ask you the specifics on how you traveled so fast at times. All I know is that you put a seal somewhere and then teleport yourself there through a hole in space-time."

"That's the Hiraishin," Kakashi deadpanned. Well, it wasn't, but the theory was the same. Instead of a hole in space-time, the Hiraishin used reverse-summoning instead. But it didn't look like Naruto was in the mood to explain. Kakashi threw a look at Shizune asking for her help, but mentally scowled when he noticed that she was still in a daze from seeing Naruto arrive three days early. It didn't help that the two looked like royalty themselves. Naruto, in particular, didn't look like his usual self. It was all very surreal. Naruto and noble-like were just about as opposites as Naruto and intelligent.

Not that being less than intelligent was a _bad_ thing, Kakashi had to remind himself. Madara, Orochimaru, Sasuke…they were all intelligent but lacked what made a person truly _good_.

But speaking of intelligence…A sweat drop formed on his face when he saw Naruto making wide gestures while going through some strange and most likely idiotic explanation about his Hiraishin-like technique.

It wasn't helping that Hanabi was encouraging Naruto to be more difficult than usual. Was Hanabi purposely trying to cover for Naruto?

Kakashi shook his head. No, he was probably becoming too paranoid from all the stress.

"Ah!" Naruto was saying. Kakashi was getting frustrated that Naruto was ignoring him. He started to breathe deeply in order to calm down. Otherwise, he might have decided to kill Naruto right there. Kakashi noted dryly that he was considering shoving his Raikiri through his student's heart more often in the last few months. Perhaps it _was_ time to retire and get a therapist. "The seal I placed on your head is emotionally triggered. The seal is linked with the chakra that flows in your midbrain and limbic system, the general area of your brain that is involved with base emotions. Once your fear of death passes a certain threshold, it lets me summon myself to your location. That's one of the functions at least. There are plenty more, some of quite pleasurable, which I can show you tonight when we—"

"As interesting as this conversation is," Kakashi decided to butt in before Naruto got into too much detail. Kakashi didn't need to hear details of Naruto's sex life at this time. It would only remind Kakashi that he didn't really have time to read _Icha Icha _all that much. They weren't quite as great or addictive as the original ones by Lord Jiraiya, but they were still a better form of entertainment than his stupid job. Today was supposed to be his day off to go do just that but he was stuck with this issue with the Fire Daimyo. "I'm going to have to ask again how you got into my office."

Naruto rolled his eyes before becoming serious. "I told you the truth. I didn't use the Hiraishin. That was just pure speed. Didn't you hear the door slam open?"

On second thought, Kakashi _did_ hear the door slam open. Was Naruto just _that _fast? That was a level of speed faster than what Naruto achieved with the Kyuubi Cloak on back in the last war. Kakashi was always assigning Naruto to missions so he never really got to see how far along Naruto was in his training.

"How did you become so fast?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"I did what Shizune said."

Kakashi looked at his assistant. "Huh? What did you tell him to do?"

Shizune had finally broken out of her daze. She shook her head. "I have no idea what he's talking about."

"Liar!" Naruto shouted indignantly. "You told me to eat my vegetables and not to eat ramen so much. You said it would make me stronger and faster in no time! You know how much I had to sacrifice by not eating my ramen? I only did it because the advice came from you! And now you're trying to deny it?!"

Kakashi rolled his eyes and groaned.

He knew what this was about now. Naruto was having one of _those_ days. On random days, Naruto seemingly regressed to how he was when he was twelve…no how he was when he was _eight_.

Kakashi figured it was a coping mechanism or something. Kakashi had his _Icha Icha_. Gai had his philosophical beliefs of youth. Yamato got off on staring at himself in the mirror while making "scary" expressions. And well, Naruto just acted like…Naruto.

"Okay, Naruto, what happened that you decided that you had to become faster?" Kakashi rephrased the question. "You were already the fast person in the Elemental Nations."

"Why? You don't like me being fast?! Well, if you don't like it, Kakashi-sensei, you only have yourself to blame!"

"How is you becoming faster my fault? And why are you talking about being fast as if it were a bad thing?"

"Well, you were sending me on so many missions that required me to be all over the place. Unfortunately, I didn't have the youthfulness to do that," Naruto explained while shaking his fist with tears streaming down his face in some sort of tribute to Gai. Kakashi looked away. "The stupid thing was that you would stupidly give me these stupid missions one at a time and I would constantly have to come back to Konoha in a really stupid manner. Like if I had a stupid mission in the Land of Wind, I'd have to stupidly come all the way back to Konoha before I could stupidly go on my next stupid mission to the Land of Earth, which, incidentally, is right next to the Land of Wind. Normally, if I got a week or two of vacation before my next stupid mission, it would have been worth it despite all the stupidity," Naruto shot him a dirty look, "but half the time, I was stupidly redeployed immediately with maybe a day's worth of rest. To compensate for all the stupidity, I developed a special technique where I can place a seal at my destination and place a seal from where I start. I charge up an immensely high amount of chakra and use it for propulsion. It sends me flying at ridiculously fast speeds. Think of it as a slingshot with me as the projectile. The only problem with it when I was first stupidly testing it out, I kept stupidly running into those damn trees. You know how much that hurt?! So then I had to imprint the stupid layout of the stupid land in my head and learn how to unconsciously dodge anything in my path while traveling at full speed. No more running into stupid trees, falling into stupid ditches, or hitting stupid rocks!"

Kakashi blinked, while wondering how he even understood that inane explanation.

"Only you would develop such a ridiculously stupid technique," Kakashi finally muttered, not wanting to think about how painful it was to slam into trees at full speed. "And stop saying stupid so much. It makes my head hurt. Those missions are not stupid. They are S-ranked mission than only a handful of people can even dream of attempting."

"But isn't that why they're called S-ranked though?" Naruto asked with an innocent smile. "You know…S for stupid?"

"Then you and I both are S-ranked ninjas because we're stupid," Kakashi said sardonically. "Masters of stupidity rather than ninjutsu."

"Of course!" Naruto chirped with joy as Hanabi smacked him lightly at his admission that he was an idiot.

"You know…you're insulting me here, by calling me the wife of an idiot," Hanabi said in a flat tone. "That's not nice."

"Well, I'm S-ranked because _other _people think I'm stupid," Naruto amended. "It's not like I agreed to be stupid." Naruto continued. "But then again, Granny Tsunade always did say only stupid people ended up becoming Hokage, so maybe it's best if I acknowledge that I am stupid. Otherwise, how would I ever stupidly become Hokage?"

"Naruto," Kakashi's head was actually beginning to spin and his vision was beginning to swirl. Naruto was being a hundred times more annoying than usual. It was even worse because Naruto was doing it on purpose. "Please just tell me that you're going to go see the Fire Daimyo. Today is my first day off in months, and I want to go home and read my _Icha Icha_. I can't do that with you not agreeing to take this mission."

"Okay, okay," Naruto agreed. "I should do it for Pervy Sage's sake. He'd be in tears if I ended up being the reason that a loyal fan couldn't read his smut," Naruto said reflectively. "Even if it is smut that he didn't write himself." Naruto put his finger to his mouth as if to think about that. "Well, then I guess it wouldn't be _his_ smut, thereby absolving me of any responsibility to help his loyal fan out." Naruto started pacing around. "Oh what to do…what to do…"

Kakashi was reaching his breaking point.

"Ugh, Naruto!" Kakashi growled out. "Just accept the damn mission!"

"But I didn't even get to unwind!" Naruto protested. "When I developed that speed technique, it gave me a few days of leeway. Since you didn't know I could travel so fast, I always got to pretend to be on my way back when I was actually doing some of the pleasurable things that Pervy Sage introduced me to. It was the only way I kept my sanity!" Naruto's mood appeared to deflate, "Well, I suppose it's not like I can do _those_ things with other women anymore since I'm now marri—"

"WHAT?!" Kakashi jolted backwards, as did Shizune, at the shrill shriek of rage from Hanabi. "You slept with prostitutes? YOU TOLD ME I WAS YOUR FIRST! YOU JERK! DO YOU TELL EVERY GIRL YOU SLEEP WITH THAT SHE'S YOUR FIRST?!"

Kakashi didn't even blush at that statement because he was completely baffled by the entire situation. Naruto had been speaking incredibly quickly and Kakashi took a long time trying to process Naruto's words after having his brain completely fried by Naruto's long speech of stupidity. Then, Hanabi acted completely out of character and now he was stuck trying to wrap his mind around that.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, I'll meet up with the Daimyo later," Naruto quickly said while dodging several wild swings from his irate wife. Kakashi was speechless and just watched the entire spectacle without another word. "But I'm going to demand more vacation time later on. 'Kay? Bye!"

With that, Naruto tackled his wife and disappeared again with that same swoosh and slamming of the door.

Kakashi turned to Shizune, "What just happened? I wasn't just seeing things, right? That was Naruto, right? And was that really Hanabi? I always thought that she was a calm one. Just what happened on their honeymoon?"

"I have no idea," Shizune managed to sputter out.

* * *

**Uzumaki Clan Compound, Konoha – April 30, AK 22 (morning)**

"Ugh, that nosy bastard," Naruto grimaced as they appeared in their bed. He had been so happy to return home that he had forgotten that Kakashi didn't know he knew how to teleport. Fortunately, he had the foresight to teleport to just outside Kakashi's door and then rush in. Answering annoying questions about the Hiraishin and space-time ninjutsu were not on the top of his list of things to do. Fortunately, he distracted and confused his gray-haired teacher by acting even more like an idiot than usual. Kakashi would probably just try to forget everything he heard from that conversation to keep his sanity.

"You know," Hanabi said from under him. "Not that I mind, but why did you shadow step us straight into bed?"

"First place I thought of!" he chirped happily as he tried to stand up. Hanabi quickly swung her arms around him and held him there.

"You owe me," Hanabi demanded, "I played along back there to get you out of a difficult situation. I want something."

Naruto groaned as he struggled to pull away. "You always want something. I recall you wanting to buy the entire mall in the Land of the Moon just a few days ago," he argued. "And don't I give you everything you want anyway? As long it's in my power, I listen to all your demands. And lastly, you should be honored to have had the opportunity to cover for your husband."

Hanabi smiled. "Well, I'll admit that it was fun. I think I can see why you do that. The look on Lord Hokage's face was priceless. He looked like he was so lost."

"I know, huh?" Naruto smirked at his wife. "He'll recover by telling himself that I'm an idiot. Then he'll just continue to act as if I'm an idiot. It gives the whole hide-in-plain-sight saying a whole new meaning. Anything smart I do will instantly be disregarded. I can get pin stuff on other people if I do it in a _smart_ way."

Unlike others who took his actions at face value, Hanabi really searched for the reasons behind his actions. She had immediately and rather easily concluded that he was faking his personality most of the time. For Naruto, it had been all too easy to continue convincing the villagers that he was an idiot because they _wanted_ him to be a boisterous fool. Hanabi, however, kept trying to dig deeper into his soul. It was interesting how Hanabi probably understood him better than anyone else even though she had only started talking to him for a few months ago.

"That being said," his wife replied, "I don't want you to leave. I'm not going to last a week without you. You said you wanted to unwind. Do that with me now until you have to go."

"I don't think that would be 'unwinding.' It'd probably be more accurate to call that 'winding,' Hanabi."

"Oh shut up," Hanabi muttered "Just take your damn clothes off already! Wind, screw, pound, whatever you want to call it, I want it now!"

"You're freakin' insatiable, Hanabi." Naruto made one last effort to get off of Hanabi before let his weight fall on her in defeat. "Ugh. More missions on the day I get back. And Kakashi-sensei is asking too many questions. This is getting ridiculous. I just want a peaceful break and he can't even give me that!"

Naruto didn't even pay attention as Hanabi's hands slipped inside of his robes and started to rub lightly against his skin. _For some weird reason, Kakashi-sensei sounded a bit too suspicious at certain points of the conversation. I'm pretty sure Ino told him that I knew that Sakura was alive but that alone shouldn't have given him any evidence to start suspecting me. Did he and Shikamaru figure out I'm Kokuten? My chakra clone put a seal on her two weeks ago, so she can't possibly be awake. That only leaves Ranmaru as the leak. If they found out my identity as a result of something he did in the last two weeks, I'll kill him for screwing up._

"Oh my!"

Naruto instantly jerked up and turned to see an orange-haired girl. Ah. It was Sasame. He looked down and saw that Hanabi's hand was still inside his robes. Still _stroking_.

"Um…hi…Sasame, why don't you knock next time?" Naruto groaned as Hanabi turned a brilliant red at being caught doing something…naughty.

"But your clone ordered us to drop of the stuff we brought back into the bedroom, Lord Naruto," Sasame said, as she held up a scroll containing all the merchandise that Hanabi had bought. He raised an eyebrow. The girl was looking at him with a rather strange expression on her face. It was almost as if the girl couldn't decide whether to smile or scowl. Was something wrong with Sasame? "I was only following orders, Master."

Naruto wanted to smack his head. His clone that he had put in charge wouldn't have known that he was in his bedroom with Hanabi. "Okay, I'm clearly using my bedroom right now, so clean it a bit later," he sighed. "And please don't tell the others that you walked in on us doing something…um…intimate."

The orange-haired girl nodded. "As you command, Lord Naruto." She turned to leave but stopped. Facing away from them, Sasame added, "I do want to inform you that walking in on our masters and their ladies is a rather common part of the job. In fact, many female servants are often asked to…um…join in. I…um…I will not…hold it against you if that is what you wish of me in the future. Good day to you, Lord Naruto."

Naruto watched with a wide-open jaw as the girl closed the door on her way out.

Did the girl just say that she wanted to be part of a threesome with him and Hanabi?

Naruto shook his head. That couldn't be right. She must have been teasing.

Sasame was just getting too cheeky for her own good.

Still, he figured it was a good thing that Sasame was becoming confident enough to talk like that. When he had found her, she had been a shell of her former bright self. She would only come to life when they were training together and then revert back to being soft-spoken but serious after they were done training. Naruto had constantly tried to get the girl to open up to no avail and it only made the girl withdraw more. It had been a shame that she wasn't bright and cheerful all the time as she once had been. But now, if that joke were anything to go by, he had nothing to worry about.

He was snapped out of his thought when he felt something in his robes. He looked down.

A blushing Hanabi was still trying to get her hand out of his robes.

"Are you even making a real effort to get your hand out?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow. The girl was just yanking on his robe without even trying to untangle her hand.

Hanabi just yanked a few more times while remaining bright red.

* * *

**Secret Place, Konoha – April 30, AK 22 (morning)**

Sakuma Hyuuga once again found himself in the same small poorly lit room he had become quite familiar with over the last month or so, talking to a light blue projection of Darui.

"I heard Uzumaki returned today with Hiashi's second daughter. Your information was wrong. You're lucky that the operation is taking place so far away from Konoha. If this was anywhere near Konoha and Uzumaki had gotten wind of it, we would have risked suffering tremendous losses. Even with the operation in the Land of Frost, with his speed, he might be able to catch us before we are safely in Kumo."

Sakuma frowned, "You have my regrets. He kept us updated on his schedule regularly. Initially, he had been due to come back by the end of the month. Mid-way he extended it to May 3rd, but still ended up coming back today. If anything, we had expected him to delay his return even further. But fortunately, I had a contingency plan in place."

"Oh?"

"One of my subordinates is a genjutsu specialist. She's currently working in the Fire Daimyo's court and acting as the attendant for the Fire Daimyo's granddaughter. Once I had heard that Uzumaki was on his way back from my contacts on the border of the Land of Fire, I took advantage of a situation to get him out of Konoha again."

"What was the situation? Did you fake an emergency situation in the capital?"

"Ah no, nothing of the sort. It's much more subtle than that. It is the Fire Daimyo's granddaughter's birthday today. What better present to give her than a week with the Golden Sun of Konoha?"

Sakuma chuckled at his own brilliance.

"A dull tactic to use a child that like that, but still clever nonetheless, Sakuma Hyuuga," the man said impassively as ever. "Are there any other potential problems?"

"No. Proceed with the operation as planned. No one in Konoha suspects anything, and by the time Uzumaki finds out, he will be trapped in the capital city, babysitting a little girl. He would not dare to leave without the permission of the daimyo. I have instructed my servant to threaten and hold the Daimyo's granddaughter hostage if Uzumaki makes any movement to leave the palace grounds before his time is up."

"Hostage? Your methods are dull as ever. Well, it can't be helped since it's a last resort maneuver, so we will do this your way for now. We have our own contingency plans to use in case we are caught. In any case, currently, my squad is in place, ready to strike at any given time. We will observe her and her teammates for the next few hours or so before striking. It will not hurt to be a bit cautious. No matter what your opinion of her is, Hinata Hyuuga is still a jounin."

This time Sakuma _did _snort. "And you call yourself an S-rank, Darui? Aren't S-ranks able to take out a full team of elites? Perhaps Kumo's standards are far lower than Konoha's if you are worried about a mere girl and her babysitters."

Sakuma was impressed that Darui did not respond to the insult. Darui was certainly more disciplined than his master. The brute of a Raikage would have roared with anger.

"You will have the rest of your payment upon our completion of this mission."

Sakuma smiled. He couldn't care less about the reward. Nor did he care about whatever Hyuuga branch the Kumo started using the pathetically weak heiress' genes. The Byakugan they were getting was not the _true_ Byakugan that only he wielded. They would just be receiving a defective imitation that did not hold the incredible power of Sage Rikudo.

He let a small smile appear on his face as he activated his far more advanced Byakugan. He would rule the Hyuuga, then take over Konoha, and then conquer the world.

If there was one thing Hiashi's family line had done right, it was creating the Caged Bird Seal. It was quite useful for stamping out resistance. He would have to spread that across the world.

Sakuma cackled uncontrollably as the image of Darui flickered away into the darkness.

* * *

**Hills, Land of Frost – April 30, AK 22 (mid-afternoon)**

"I got nothing, Hinata," Konohamaru muttered. "My clan specializes in forest warfare, but this frost makes it hard to detect anything. And while, I'm pretty sure there's nothing around, there's something not right about this mission. That old man who greeted us didn't seem afraid at all."

Hinata nodded. Even without her Byakugan, she was trained to read people's emotions and thoughts by looking carefully at their facial expressions. Their client didn't seem to be afraid of being attacked by ninjas despite claiming to be so.

"I'm not so sure about that," Mimi Tajiri, her little sister's best friend, murmured. "This place does seem rather creepy."

"Well, that might be because everything is covered in frost," Yamato Takaishi replied as he pushed some frost covered leaves and branches away.

(AN: Yamato Takaishi is Takeru's brother. This is not the Naruto canon Yamato/Tenzo that all of you know. It's just someone with the same first name. For Digimon fans, I chose to give him the same last name that Takeru has instead of using Ishida as Yamato's last name.)

"Hinata, I think it's best if you do a full sweep of this area. You'll be able to see within a twenty kilometer radius," Konohamaru suggested.

Hinata nodded as they continued to walk. Her telescopic mode of the Byakugan was by far the most advanced in her family. The rest of her family sought to see the smallest details; she sought to increase her range. She might not be able to utilize some of family techniques that required extreme precision, but she could warn her friends of danger far better than anyone else. It was more important to protect than to destroy. That was what Naruto had taught her.

To protect those precious to her. It was how she would become truly strong.

"Byakugan!" Hinata prepared to do a visual sweep but gasped as soon as her eyes activated. "Everyone! Don't move!"

"What's wrong?" Konohamaru demanded.

"I can't see anything!"

That wasn't entirely accurate. She could _see_ but she couldn't make out any details in a two-kilometer radius. The entire area was completely saturated in chakra. It was like looking at a bright light in all directions.

"What? Something's blocking your Byakugan?"

Hinata turned her eyes off. They wouldn't be of much help to her in this situation. "There are seals covering the ground, the trees, the frost itself, everything! None of the seals appear to be doing anything other than expelling a fair amount of chakra. I can't make out anything. It looks like I'm in a haze of chakra when I turn on my Byakugan. It's the same concept used in most anti-Byakugan seals, using dense of chakra flow to blind us as it is much harder to see _through_ chakra. But to create something like this in air itself…"

"What does that mean?" Tajiri asked. "Why would anyone just blanket an area with pure chakra? It can't be an anti-Byakugan measure because there are no Hyuuga in the Land of Frost."

"It's a trap," Konohamaru hissed in a low tone. "The mission request promised to give us a bonus if a Hyuuga were on the mission. We agreed to bring Hinata with us because of the extra money, but it seems like whoever sent the request were counting on us to do so. Like Hinata said, a sea of chakra that doesn't do anything but just exist is definitely an anti-Byakugan measure. This was done precisely because they wanted to disable Hinata's ability to fight. The time it would take to set something like this up would be weeks, if not months."

That instantly made all of them wary. They jumped together in a defensive position with backs to each other.

"That's not all," Hinata said in a soft tone. "They must have chosen this particular place because of the snow of the operation because would make it harder for you to escape into the trees, Konohamaru. The frost would make it too slippery to grab or land on the branches properly. It limits your effectiveness in battle."

"This is not good," Takaishi said with a sweat rolling down the side of his head. "Both of our jounin are at a disadvantage here against an unknown enemy."

"No, you're wrong. I'm not too disadvantaged by this at all," Konohamaru said confidently. "It's true that I fight best in forested areas because of my clan techniques, but you're forgetting that my master is Naruto Uzumaki. He taught me how to be an all-around combat specialist. If the enemy thinks they'll catch me off-guard because of this, they're going to be in for a huge surprise."

Hinata didn't even cringe at the name of her crush. She didn't have the luxury to do so. Hinata didn't show it, but she was nervous and wary. Even from the very beginning, there was something really off about this mission. It was supposed to be a simple scouting mission to assess the threat level of an unknown enemy that was suspected to be weak. But now they had somehow walked into a trap that was designed against her Byakugan and Konohamaru's family's style of fighting. This wasn't good if the enemy had prepared to this extent.

Konohamaru seemed to have noticed her discomfort. "Hinata, if the enemy comes, split from us and get out of here."

She protested at that. "They might be after you as well. There are anti-Sarutobi measures here, too!"

Konohamaru shook his head. "I know. That's why I'm not telling you to run away. You said that your eyes aren't too useful in this chakra field, right?" She nodded. "Then lead them on a chase out of this area. Your entire style of fighting revolves around using your vision and you can't do that here."

"But what about you three?" she whispered back.

"No village would openly try to kidnap a Hyuuga or Sarutobi. They'll probably try to be as sneaky as possible and they'll have an alibi ready as well. If their kidnapping plans fail, they'll probably say that a rogue squad acted alone. That limits them to using a small number of people. So I'm guessing that we'll only be facing one four-man squad. We'll have to take them on one-on-one. The rest of us can fight here, but you can't. We'll try to delay the squad as much as possible to give you a head start, but it's likely that one person will be able to pull away immediately and give chase. Head towards the Land of Fire. It's about five hours away but it will make them think that you're actually trying to run instead of drawing them to an area where you can fight. Keep pulling the fight closer to the Land of Fire once you start fighting. We might be able to alert some scouts along the border."

"We got your back, Hyuuga," Takaishi said. "Captain Sarutobi's plan probably has the best chance of success. You can just come back to help us once you're done with your opponent."

"And besides," Tajiri added, "Captain Sarutobi is an elite. Even if it's a full squad of typical jounin-level ninjas, we'll still have the advantage."

Just then, as if on cue, four ninjas landed about five meters in front of her. Her teammates turned from their positions to face the new arrivals.

Hinata's eyes widened when she saw the symbol on their forehead protectors. It was Kumo! She started shivering uncontrollably. Even after over a decade, she still got nightmares about her first kidnapping. They…they were after _her_ again!

"We don't wish to fight," a dark man said as he stepped forward. Hinata felt that the man looked familiar. "My name is Darui," Hinata's eyes widened. It was the former general of the First Division of the Allied Shinobi Forces. An _S-rank_ ninja. "We wish to escort Princess Hinata Hyuuga to our home."

* * *

AN: The following portion was written in response to some "glowing" guest reviews and quite a few "supportive" PMs complaining about certain things in the story that they think they understand but don't. There are some spoilers below so you can read it if the rest of you are interested.

I created this Q&A list from all the private messages I got after the last two chapter. I got tired of replying to reviews and PMs that have more curse words than actual words because someone with the reading comprehension of a fifth grader thinks he's the shit. In the future, I'll just direct people to this page.

* * *

_**Q&A – The Price of Peace for Dummies**_

**1. Boranbolt, you're a [insert a bunch of curse words]! Naruto x Hinata forever! Naruto x Hinata is canon!**

Response: Naruto x Hinata is _not_ canon. Otherwise, Naruto wouldn't have introduced Sakura as his "girlfriend" to the Fourth Hokage. Also, canon Naruto _doesn't _give up. That includes love. It doesn't matter how sweet Hinata is or how much she loves him.

It has been implied multiple times in the manga that Naruto loves Sakura. The theme of the manga is that Naruto never gives up. You do the math.

Yes, I know that Sakura doesn't love him. I never said that it'll end up as Naruto x Sakura. I honestly think it'll end up as Naruto x no girl. FYI, I'm not a Naruto x Sakura fan. What I want and what I think will happen are two different things. I think that if Naruto _does_ get a girl in the manga, Sakura would be the one. Given the theme of Naruto never giving up, it's way more likely that Sakura will change her mind than Naruto giving up on her. Naruto may eventually convince her. Talk no Jutsu is the most powerful weapon in Narutoverse; don't underestimate it.

* * *

**2. So why did you choose Naruto x Hanabi anyway?**

Response: I wanted to do something challenging and rare. I put the names of the girls who rarely get any screen time in a hat and drew them out. Hanabi came out first, then Sasame. That's why you have Naruto x Hanabi and will get a _mostly but not completely_ one-sided Naruto x Sasame. Yes, that dynamic was planned from the very beginning.

[Spoiler Alert] Yesterday I finished writing the last two chapters of the story already and Naruto's relationship with Hanabi and Sasame will be quite important to the ending. No, it will not be a harem ending. And no, the ending won't be happening any time soon. I just wrote it because I got bored of writing all the stuff in the middle.

* * *

**3. Your Naruto is [insert a bunch of curse words]! He betrayed Konoha & Sakura first! He's evil! He's one-dimensional! You're just another [insert a bunch of curse words] author who has Naruto blow up the world!**

Response: Fuck you. Learn to make proper inferences from what you read.

To the people who are genuinely confused and want an explanation, however…

Perhaps I haven't made this clear enough. In this story, Konoha is run by selfish and narcissistic clan heads and wealthy representatives who do nothing abuse the law. Naruto brings up his past as an example of how those people in high places _manipulated_ the public to satisfy their own feelings of hate.

In case you missed it from Memory Lane II Double Betrayal, when Naruto explains his motivation to Sakura, I'll repeat it here and give you an example. You can consider it as part of the story if you want.

In the past, Sakuma Hyuuga lost his wife in the Kyuubi attack. He was one of many who did, but he believed that he, as a great Hyuuga, should have been exempt from suffering. He was angry, but he wasn't going to risk everything he had and openly attack an orphaned baby protected by the Third Hokage. Instead, he bribed—in a way that couldn't be traced back to him—a bunch of desperate people in order to get back at Naruto. In short, Sakuma exploited vulnerable people.

That was the purpose of this line:_"The only ones who [hurt me] were the ones who had everything going for them: food, shelter, jobs, living families, and in many cases, governmental power. Kurama's attack on the village may have hurt them. They may have lost loved ones. But, their own lives were still blessed and prosperous compared to many others. A widow doesn't have the money to get drunk and attack children, Sakura. An orphan doesn't deny me promotions and bribe small-businesses to throw me out just because I was once the container of the most powerful bijuu in existence."_

Naruto forgave the people who directly mistreated him after learning about their situations and after they apologized to him. He did not, however, forgive the people in charge, the very same people who lead Konoha. But it's not because they mistreated him. It's because they are continuing to mistreat _others_.

See the following lines:

_"No, it's not about revenge. I only brought it up to show you examples of how the system was broken. I'm going to fix it. The ones making my life miserable were the ones who thought they were above the Third's laws. His advisors. The village councilors. The richest merchants who bribe officials for favors. The damn system gave them that power. The power they still use __today__ to trample on the weak. I've forgiven people for how they treated me, but I will __not__ stand and watch as they extort and threaten those they consider beneath them."_

"…_For the last six years, __I__ failed. Much of the money I poured into the orphanages went towards lobbying instead of the children. The safety net I created is more likely to be used as an emergency fund during war than something that helps those who need it in times of peace…I'm going to make sure that the haves can no longer abuse the have-nots. I've given up trying to do that through Konoha's system."_

If you want a solid example, imagine something like this. Sakuma goes to the head of the orphanages and tells them that he'll cut village funding for the orphanages if they don't pay him money. Since it's better to lose something like 10 percent instead of everything, the head of the orphanage pays him off. The ones who lose out are the orphans.

And that system pisses Naruto off.

Naruto is going to topple the village system to get rid of corruption, not to get revenge.

* * *

**4. So what exactly is Naruto going to do?**

Response: [Spoiler Alert] He's creating his own village right now. It's going to be a haven for people who want out of their village or people who need a home. He is _not_ going to start a war. He will _not_ be razing Konoha to the ground. In fact, from this point out, I don't think Naruto will even kill a single person.

So stop with the stupid accusations that I'm just getting my jollies from having Naruto stomp on everyone.

* * *

**5. Why is Naruto godly?**

Response: Ah, finally, a legitimate question that can't be answered from the material in the story so far.

First, this story was going to be Naruto x Hanabi. That was non-negotiable. For that to happen, enough time had to have passed for Hanabi to grow up. I chose the _minimum_ possible. Six years to get Hanabi up to age 17-18. But six years is also a lot of time for Naruto to get even more powerful than he already was.

Second, I'm tired of canon Naruto's idiocy. So _my _Naruto wasn't going to be an idiot. He wasn't going to be omniscient or whatever, but he was going to be deadly for more than just his power. Also, he was going to have better way of defeating people than accidentally farting in their faces and using Talk no Jutsu.

That leaves us with three facts: Naruto now knows the secret to shadow clones, has six years to abuse the hell out of it, and has enough brain cells to know that he can abuse the hell out of it.

Now for some math. Let's assume that Naruto has 500 shadow clones (which is double the number he used with version 1 of the Kyuubi's chakra) training a minimum of three months a year. That gives us 500 clones X 6 years X 3 months per year = 750 years of training.

Furthermore, he can afford to split his chakra even when he goes on missions, so the effective time he trains is even _more_ than three months.

I don't care how untalented anyone is. Over a thousand years of training with peak body condition will make you a beast in every single field. That's the reason why Naruto is godly.

* * *

**6. What is this whole physical energy & spiritual energy stuff? Why are you putting in the Gelel Stone into your story when Naruto and Temujin destroyed it in the movie?**

Response: Because Naruto is so overpowered.

First – I put a finite limit to human strength. But with over a thousand years, Naruto would have reached the limit too quickly. So I forced him to improve his versatility rather than power. He knows genjutsu, ninjutsu, kenjutsu, fuinjutsu, etc. He had time to read up on strategy and politics. However, that versatility also made him overpowered in a different way because now, now, he has no weakness besides overconfidence and tunnel vision.

Second – So I created this whole concept chakra nullification to lock away all of Naruto's strength. He still needed _something _to fight with so I introduced spiritual and physical energy & the Gelel Stones. Naruto's still powerful, but he's not quite godlike with just yin and yang.

Note: Naruto is unable to use shadow clones to accelerate his training in yin & yang and he's not going to be able to use chakra clones at the rate he needs to reach godlike level because he'd be cutting his lifespan.

* * *

**7. What's the point of this whole Hyuuga conspiracy stuff?**

Response: [Spoiler Alert] Threefold (1) To show that even Naruto makes mistakes (2) To provide Hanabi the chance to find out Naruto's true identity (3) To set the stage for the final battle of the story, which won't be happening for a long time.

* * *

**8. Why did you spread apart these "memory lane" chapters? **

Response: Initially, they weren't planned at all. I just wrote the first one as a bonus chapter. It was incredibly rushed and I didn't portray Sakura in the way I had initially intended. So the next day, I had ten PMs by the next day saying that this story should be a Naruto x Sakura, which as I already explained multiple times, won't be happening.

I couldn't post the second one immediately because I portrayed Sakura in _too good_ of a light in the first one. I had to figure out a way to make absolutely sure that the betrayal/breakup was satisfactory. That took weeks of thinking and thinking. Meanwhile, I had a bunch of other chapters that I wanted to post. So there you have it.

Fortunately, I was able to take advantage of the third person, limited view to solve the problem. In Memory Lane: Naruto & Sakura, everything was in Sakura's POV and the reader could sympathize with her. In Memory Lane II Double Betrayal, I also wrote in Naruto's POV to show that there was some level of miscommunication going on.

This way, it didn't matter that Sakura was good as long as _Naruto_ didn't know it. In case you were wondering, Sakura loved Naruto far more than Naruto thought.

But actually, I was just covering my ass from portraying her as too good from Memory Lane: Naruto & Sakura. Thank you, third person, limited POV. Haha.

* * *

**9. Is Naruto stronger than Sasuke?**

Response: [Spoiler Alert] Yes. I'll even put in a scene where he bitch slaps Sasuke. Haha. Just kidding. Maybe.

* * *

**10. People know about Naruto's Sage Mode! They should know he's a sensor! **

Response: From what I remember, in the manga, he only told Tsunade, Shikaku, and Inoichi about Sage Mode's sensory abilities. Let's just say that they kept their mouths shut out of respect.

* * *

**11. Why can't Naruto just sense everyone using Sage Mode/Kyuubi Mode?**

Response: I intentionally limited Sage Mode's effectiveness in this story. I made it so that Naruto has to sift through all the chakra signatures manually to find someone instead of just magically knowing where someone was.

As for Kyuubi Mode, it detects killing intent. Karin wasn't leaking killing intent towards Naruto every second of her life. Some of you might argue that Kyuubi Mode detects evil. That interpretation is fine, too, but good luck trying to sort through all the evil out there because the Land of the Moon had a lot of merchants planning on ripping off tourists. That's pretty evil too, you know.

Remember, I'm trying to weaken Naruto as much as possible instead of trying to power up everyone else a la DBZ.

* * *

**12. What's the significance of Naruto's students? Why are you even putting them in the story?  
**

Response: [Spoiler Alert] Their digimon don't use normal chakra. Konoha needs a way to fight Naruto. Hint. Hint.

* * *

**13. Where are the bijuu?**

Response: They disappeared after the Fourth Ninja World War. They are sealed in the moon and are sleeping there. No, they won't be an important part of the story.

* * *

**14. Who are Naruto's closest followers?**

Response: [Spoiler Alert] As of now, in the order of "rank," Sai, Sasame, Hokuto, Ranmaru, Akio, Yukimaru, Yuna. There will be additions in the future among people already introduced in the story. Hint. Hint.

Yuna is the only true OC. I introduced so many of the filler characters to replace people like Tsunade, Jiraiya, Itachi, and Neji who could have potentially been on Naruto's side.

* * *

**15. What is Sasuke's goal? **

Response: [Spoiler Alert] Naruto and Sasuke are trying to do the same thing. They're both trying to create a new world order. They both want to crush the great village system.

Naruto is doing that through economic means. He's planning on bankrupting the great villages by crippling their labor force (he's taking away the workers, the people the rich tend to exploit).

Sasuke, however, is taking a more military approach; Sasuke is trying to bring the great villages to their knees. Also, Sasuke has a personal vendetta against Kakashi and the Konoha clan heads for covering up the truth about the Uchiha massacre again.

If you find Naruto to be similar to Sasuke, Pein/Nagato, Madara, and Obito, that's because it was designed that way. In Memory Lane: Double Betrayal, Sakura said the following:

_"...The road to hell is paved with good intentions. You're walking the same path as Madara, Orochimaru, Itachi, and Obito. They both thought their method of living was the only answer."_

I'm trying to show that there's a fine line between good and evil. Naruto is not purely good (i.e. he's indirectly responsible for deaths that Kabuto caused with the Dispersion Seals) and Sasuke is not completely bad (i.e. he does value Karin now). I'm trying to make these things subtle instead of making things purely black and white. Given the hate mail I've been getting, people clearly don't appreciate or understand things that they have to use their brains for. Considering that most of the people complaining about this issue are the same ones who seem to believe that Naruto x Hinata is the only way for a story to be good, I'm going to stick with that belief.

No offense to any real thoughtful Naruto x Hinata fans.

* * *

**16. Explain Kakashi's relationship with Naruto. Is Kakashi an idiot? How does he not know Naruto's skill set?  
**

Response: [Spoiler Alert] Kakashi values Naruto; he truly does. Kakashi is proud that Naruto is strong and has the ability to inspire those around him. But at the same time, Kakashi looks down on Naruto. He thinks that Naruto just doesn't know any better most of the time. I'll be touching upon this in the story later on, but Kakashi can't help but compare Naruto to the Fourth Hokage. The Fourth Hokage was quiet, rational, and smooth, whereas Naruto is loud, reckless, and brash. Unconsciously, Kakashi resents Naruto for dishonoring the Fourth's image and memory by being who he is.

* * *

Once again, thanks to TheOneSage for beta reading this. I changed some stuff up after he did, so there might be minor errors here and there because I didn't want to proofread again.


	22. Abduction - Struggles

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. This is fanfiction, after all.

AN: Here is the second installment of the epic 30th of April. Even though the last chapter ended in the mid-afternoon, this one will start in the late morning.

* * *

**Uzumaki Training Grounds, Konoha – April 30, AK 22 (late morning)**

Hanabi was training by herself in the Uzumaki training grounds. Naruto had gone off to babysit the Fire Daimyo's granddaughter so she had nothing to do besides train.

The Fire Daimyo had decided to stay the whole day, but Naruto had somehow managed to coax the old man into heading back home early. Naruto had winked at her and said that the earlier he left, the earlier he would return.

He didn't mention the obvious fact that the time he spent away would still be the same, however, and Hanabi was left wondering how she would spend a week without her husband.

The answer had been to train.

Unfortunately, Naruto had not seriously trained her in how to use independently use spiritual and physical energy, saying that such training was dangerous. He had said that a person's body is so used to being fed chakra that the sudden splitting of that chakra into spiritual and physical energy would send her body into shock the moment she split her chakra apart into its constituents. The idea had been to gradually get her body used to running off of spiritual energy and physical energy in short intervals until it could last an entire day without chakra.

All they had managed to do was discover that she leaned heavily towards yin—Naruto theorized that most people were predominantly predisposed to using one or the other—and get her able to last a few hours without chakra. Hanabi had wanted to start training, but Naruto said the strain on her body would become much more severe once she started using techniques. To prove his point, he had taught her a yin technique that would cause time itself around her body to invert, a form of time dilation, thereby speeding up her movements. Just two thrusts had been enough to leave her bedridden for the rest of the day.

Her endurance since then had grown, but she had learned her lesson. She would not be using spiritual energy techniques until Naruto deemed her fit to do so.

And since Naruto wasn't present, she had to work on something else. Hanabi was currently practicing to fully incorporate her elemental chakra into her battle style. It would probably no longer be the Gentle Fist anymore, given that she incorporated the use of two small battle fans coated with wind chakra to cause external damage to her foes. But it would make her a much better and more versatile fighter. Hanabi gained extra range from being able to use long-ranged wind attacks with the fans open or a chakra-conducting base to create her water whip with the fans closed.

The open fans had sharp edges and could themselves be used either as melee or ranged weapons and could cut deeply even without wind chakra. The closed forms of the fans were extremely sturdy and would allow her to block any incoming kunai or shuriken instead of having to dodge or use the chakra-intensive Kaiten. The Hyuuga never carried weapons even on missions because of their desire to appear more than brute savages. With her fans, she would appear every bit the noble that she was while still giving her deadly weapons to use and parry other weapons.

"Lady Hanabi?"

Hanabi stopped to look at her orange-haired attendant. Sasame was the closest to her in age amongst all her attendants, and over the last month, they had become fast friends.

"Yes?"

"Are you practicing ninjutsu?"

"I am," Hanabi replied, wondering why the older girl had asked.

"Do you mind if I practiced with you?" Sasame asked.

Hanabi raised an eyebrow. "Sasame, you were a ninja before Naruto hired you?"

That was news to her. The girl didn't mention anything like that before. But to be fair, Hanabi had been more focused on learning about her husband on her honeymoon. She made a mental note to get to know the stories of all her retainers.

The other girl nodded. "Before Lord Naruto found me, I was part of the Fuuma clan. Most of my clan members are now scattered and living among civilians, but we were once a ninja clan. I…" the girl paused, "My clan went through hard time. To settle some debts, the faction of the clan that I was a part of sold me into slavery," Hanabi saw the girl lightly touching the spot where she had been branded, "I managed to fight my way to freedom even while drugged, but I had to wander from place to place without having a home to return to. Fortunately, it wasn't a long time. Lord Naruto found me on one of my trips and I have dedicated my life to him since."

Suddenly, it made sense why Naruto had insisted that she get close to Sasame.

Sasame was probably supposed to be Hanabi's secret bodyguard.

Hanabi didn't know whether to be pleased or annoyed with that. On one hand, it was sweet that Naruto wanted to make sure no harm came to her. On the other, it was a blow to her pride that Naruto thought she needed protection.

And there were Sasame's feelings to think of. Often times, Hanabi would notice the girl's eyes flicker over to gaze at Naruto when he had his back turned. Hanabi caught it because she was once a Hyuuga, but she doubted anyone else would have caught Sasame's surreptitious looks of affection.

Despite Sasame's best efforts to conceal how she felt, Hanabi had concluded that other girl had a crush on her husband. Judging by the very light blush on the other girl's face even now that _almost_ appeared to be more from embarrassment from telling her life story, it seemed that Sasame did indeed have feelings for Naruto. While she wasn't entirely happy with the situation, Hanabi knew that Naruto trusted Sasame. So she too in turn would trust the orange-haired girl.

It wasn't like the Sasame had made any overt passes at Hanabi's husband either. Sasame clearly knew what was appropriate and what was not, so Hanabi would not resent Sasame for simply having feelings.

Hanabi got into a defensive stance as she activated her Byakugan. "Sure, then let's practice."

Sasame smiled before jumping to attack.

Hanabi immediately felt herself being pressured by her attendant. Hanabi was incredibly shocked by the speed and agility that the other girl was showing. Sasame's speed wasn't quite on par with Hanabi's own, but Hanabi knew from the other girl's body language that Sasame wasn't going all-out. Furthermore, Sasame more than made up for lack of speed with strange techniques.

It seemed that the other girl could control chakra at will. Every time Hanabi tried to dodge, there would be a solid wall of pure, transparent chakra blocking her path, forcing her to jump in another direction. It seemed that the girl could create only one wall at once. But the wall would remain present for a long time and Sasame was free to continue making more. Hanabi suspected that hand seals would give the other girl more versatility with the strange technique.

Hanabi dashed forward, dodging between all the chakra walls that had been set up. When we saw yet another wall go up, trapping her in an area with only few holes to escape from, she tried to smash one with her Gentle Fist only to have her hand rebound back. Finding herself now completely surrounded by chakra walls, she coated her fan with wind chakra and tossed it at one of the barriers as a last resort.

The chakra barrier shatter.

"As expected, Lord Naruto chose a strong woman to be his wife. I hadn't expected you to escape that technique, Lady Hanabi."

It was well hidden but Hanabi could tell that there was a touch of bitterness in the tone. Hanabi couldn't explain it, but she knew that the bitterness in Sasame's tone wasn't directed at her or any person in particular. Her tone reminded her of the times when Neji would vent about life. Perhaps Sasame also felt trapped by her own slave mark in the same way Neji had with the Caged Bird Seal.

"But you're not too bad yourself, Sasame. I'd say we're about even in skill. Your skills are at A-rank, aren't they?" Hanabi asked.

"They are." Sasame nodded as Hanabi walked out of the impromptu cage that had been made. "Probably mid- to upper- A-rank."

That was a surprise. Hanabi was a typical A-rank ninja. While Hanabi was not arrogant enough to accuse Sasame of lying, it was still somewhat of a shock that Sasame was _that_ strong.

"Just what is that technique?" Hanabi inquired curiously.

Hanabi had seen many techniques in her life, but none that involved creating pure solid chakra constructs. The nearest thing to that would be the Kaiten and Rasengan, both of which were dense and tangible, but Sasame's walls seemed to be made of _inert_ chakra and not dense or moving chakra.

"It's our clan's Madala Curse technique. Our clan became quite adept at manipulating the physical properties of chakra. We can shape chakra into whatever physical shape we wish. Barriers tend to be the easiest to make and thus are the most practical for use in battle. I can also use chakra threads when they are appropriate."

Hanabi nodded in appreciation. "It seems like your chakra constructs are strong enough to repel normal chakra and physical attacks quite well."

"Yes, but both wind and lightning can pierce or shatter my technique. Wind creates a thin sheet while lighting creates a small point. As such, with power focused into such small areas, a sufficiently strong enough wind or lightning attack can shatter my walls."

Hanabi frowned but didn't say anything. She had simply channeled her chakra through the fan. It shouldn't have been an incredibly strong and focused attack. Hanabi wasn't skilled at nature manipulation on a level that would have freed her from those chakra constructs. She took a careful look at her fans with her Byakugan and saw the normally invisible seals all over it. Perhaps the seals amplified the power and potency of her chakra. If Sasame was to be believed, Hanabi was easily outclassed by her attendant in ninjutsu.

She had only escaped because of Naruto's foresight. Hanabi glanced at the other girl briefly.

Perhaps Naruto _did_ have a right to worry about Hanabi's safety.

Hanabi knew that there were S-rank monsters out there, but they usually had some kind of strange ability. The Hokage had his Sharingan, Lee's strange teacher had his Inner Gates, and Naruto had monstrous chakra levels that had been left behind when the Kyuubi (and the other bijuu) were sealed away in the moon.

Among _normal _mortals, Hanabi had thought herself strong and capable. But if someone relatively normal like Sasame was this powerful, it meant that Hanabi was nowhere near the limits of her abilities, especially considering that Hanabi too had a unique ability in her bloodline that was not available to most ninjas. Simply by virtue of being blessed with a powerful bloodline, she had a duty to reach _S-rank_.

"What else can you do?" Hanabi asked curiously.

"I'm a sensor, which was why I suspect Lord Naruto wishes me to remain close to you at all times." Hanabi nodded at what was the confirmation of her theory that Naruto had wanted to protect her. "I can also use earth and fire ninjutsu."

"Well," Hanabi said after a while, accepting that she needed to grow much stronger, "that first spar was fun. Want to try again? This time using your other techniques as well."

"Of course, Lady Hanabi."

* * *

**Capital City, Land of Fire – April 30, AK 22 (early afternoon)**

As always, the capital city was bright and lively. There was a festive atmosphere throughout the streets as people laughed, drank, sang, and danced.

"Little Naruto," the Fire Daimyo said warmly from the open window of his palanquin, "It is nice to have seen you grown up so well. How many years has it been?"

"I believe it has been six, Your Majesty," Naruto said politely. Usually, to authority figures, he would wiggle his way into their hearts by giving them a fresh breath of familiarity. But Naruto had long decided to be extra respectful to the Fire Daimyo simply to annoy other government officials. The Daimyo's advisors regularly complained that Naruto was too rude and unfit to be the Hokage or be in the Daimyo's favor. But because Naruto was overly polite to the Daimyo himself, whenever the advisors would claim Naruto was rude, the Fire Daimyo gave them looks as if they were crazy. It was a rather entertaining game to play; Naruto always made sure to flip the bird to the advisors whenever the Daimyo wasn't looking.

"Ah, indeed it has, Naruto," the Fire Daimyo laughed heartedly behind his fan. "We hope you don't mind indulging Our little granddaughter. She has a been a fan of yours for the longest time."

"It is an honor, Your Majesty."

It was anything but. Naruto outwardly gave a warm smile but mentally scowled. He could have been using the time to train, to spend with Hanabi, to plan to bring peace to the entire continent, or even just to relax. Instead, he was being asked to babysit a fangirl.

Still, he couldn't voice any of his thoughts to the Fire Daimyo. And after all, Naruto did understand him and didn't resent him because of his request. To civilians in _the Land of Fire_, especially the ones not living in a ninja village, the wars that ninjas fought were almost always invisible. Wars were always in other countries. To those in the Land of Fire, it had been decades of perennial peace and people were more worried about personal daily struggles.

For someone like the Daimyo, the battles were just simply entertaining stories to hear about unless they became as big as Pein's invasion or the Fourth Shinobi World War.

The closest thing to war that civilian nobles experienced was having to occasional place bets on the young ninjas who fought in the Chuunin Selection Exams. Ninja battles were a sport to them, which contributed to the Fire Daimyo's inability to understand why his granddaughter's demands were so unreasonable.

"We are glad you feel that way, Naruto," the Fire Daimyo returned with a warm smile of his own. "By the week's end, We shall grant you any wish that you might have for this favor." The Fire Daimyo chortled. "Within reason, of course. We won't be able to grant you ownership of the moon." The Fire Daimyo chuckled again at his own joke.

Naruto lowered his head formally. The Fire Daimyo didn't really have anything Naruto wanted. Naruto wanted peace in the world, but that was something no one could give him. There was also equality for all citizens, including slaves, but there was no way the Fire Daimyo would overturn the centuries-old caste system.

In any case, however, appearances had to be kept. Naruto had to make a show of gratitude.

"Thank you, sire. But the greatest wish of your servant is to serve under you as the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village. Your servant shall be forever grateful for your support."

"We already promised you Our support, little Naruto. You did us a great service by defeating the Akatsuki criminals." The Fire Daimyo sounded disappointed. "We were hoping We could do more for you." The Fire Daimyo paused. "Considering your age, We would have considered finding you a decent wife among the nobles, perhaps even Our granddaughter, but you are a newly married man. Another marriage this soon would be somewhat insulting to your wife."

"Yes, my lord," Naruto murmured, not mentioning that he had no intention of marrying a minor even if it was the Fire Daimyo's granddaughter.

Nor did he mention that Hanabi would probably render his family jewels useless if he got married while away at the capital. The girl _claimed_ she was fine with him taking on concubines and even accepted that he might take more wives, but Naruto doubted that anyone in the world was _that_ generous. People might claim that love is selfless, but that was a lie. His experience with Sakura taught him that while the greatest form of love was selfless and sacrificial, most forms of love were selfish and jealous.

"Hm," the Fire Daimyo mused out loud to himself with his fan over his face, "Perhaps in the future then. You are already a noble as well so granting you noble status is out of the option. How frustrating. How frustrating, indeed., the Fire Daimyo repeated muttered. "It is a shame, but We shall have to reward you with gold instead. Perhaps a set of jewelry for your lovely wife as well. And the opportunity of taking any woman in the Land of Fire as your next bride. Each year there is a contest for the most beautiful woman in the Land of Fire. We will give the next winner to you as your second wife. Ah yes. This will be Our decree."

"But—"

"No, buts, Naruto," the Fire Daimyo commanded. "You will accept these gifts. We command it! If your wife is opposed to you taking another wife, then you may take the woman as a concubine. Even a noblewoman will consider being the concubine of the great Naruto Uzumaki as an honor. Especially if We make it a mandate."

Naruto lowered his head in silent assent. He didn't need the money, but more money couldn't hurt, especially with his plans for the future. And he would just introduce Hanabi to the Daimyo if the Daimyo kept insisting that Naruto take multiple wives. That particular conversation between them wouldn't go well, but it would at least free Naruto of having to get married again.

They walked in silence until they finally reached the palace. As they entered the palace, Naruto decided that he would just treat it as a protection mission to spare his sanity when he saw all the politicians around them.

"Welcome back, Your Majesty!" everyone intoned at once.

Naruto stood near the doorway as the Daimyo regally walked by all his advisors and ministers towards his throne.

"Call the princess at once!" the Fire Daimyo ordered once he sat down.

"It shall be done, Oh Great One. Your grace is immeasurable," they all chanted in unison. Naruto twitched in annoyance as all the ministers bowed their heads in perfect unison. He wasn't annoyed at the show of respect or even the silliness of the scene, but it always irked him that they were somehow able to read one another's minds deciding when to chant and bow.

It was rather unnatural and strange.

"Ah and Naruto, you can come up here and wait."

Naruto formally bowed his head for what was the millionth time and marched silently on the red carpet between the two lines of nobles to sit on his knees before the Daimyo.

After a few minutes, the door behind them slid open. "Grandfather, you are surely the greatest man alive! I finally get to see my hero!"

Naruto merely kept his head down, not trusting himself to show the proper emotion required. He was tempted to laugh, cry, and blow up something all at the same time. Megumi really was a fangirl, the worst kind at that.

"Naruto, you may stand."

Naruto did and formally kept his head down as the princess marched up directly to him and squealed with glee. "Grandfather, I must ask permission to take the legendary Golden Sun of Konoha back to my quarters."

Naruto's eyes would have bugged out at that, but he quickly mastered himself. He couldn't cause a scene here.

"You may do as you will with him, princess." The Fire Daimyo giggled at that behind his fan. "We even grant you permission to leave the palace grounds. We hope you enjoy your gift." The Daimyo looked at Naruto and gave a wink. "What happens here stays here, Naruto."

Naruto was stunned that the Daimyo pretty much gave him permission to sleep with his granddaughter, but before he could do anything about it, the girl began to drag him out. Naruto stopped at the door and turned to give the Daimyo another short bow of the head.

Naruto followed the girl into her quarters, wondering if he would have to place a genjutsu on her to make her believe that something actually happened that night. There was no way he was going to sleep with another woman, let alone a minor. Even putting aside what Hanabi would do to him, he himself had serious moral issues about something like that. While he had been engaged to Hanabi when she was technically still a minor, she was an adult when he got married to her. Most noblemen didn't really care about age, but Naruto wasn't one of them. He wasn't a pedophile.

"Lord Naruto! I am so excited to meet you! I have been collecting your action figures and cards ever since they started coming out six years ago!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that. Action figures? Cards? What the heck were those?

Seeing him not respond, the girl motioned for him to sit and then went through her drawers to take out a small plastic figure that looked like him. The figure had a little blue ball on it hand.

She pressed a button and the action figured moved forward thrusting the blue ball forward, "Rasengan!" it shouted.

Megumi, the princess, put the action figure on a small table and put one of her books up in front of the action figure. "This is one of the books that my tutor makes me read for my education. It's just a bunch of ancient rules that no longer apply. It's much more useful for this."

"Rasengan!"

The book fell over the side of the table.

A sweat drop appeared on Naruto's head. That was certainly an…interesting way of using the Rasengan.

Civilians were stranger than he thought. What was the point of getting these action figures?

"Oh! Here's your playing card, too!" Naruto just stared as the girl shoved a durable plastic card into his hand.

The card itself was mostly orange and read _LIMITED FOURTH WAR EDITION_ on the back. The top half had a picture of him holding his Wind Release: Rasenshuriken boxed in a shiny silver background and Naruto twitched as he saw what else was on the card. There was a number saying 100 HP on the top right and the bottom had two of his techniques listed: Shadow clones (30 HP damage) and Wind Release: Rasenshuriken (120 HP damage). There was something that appeared to represent chakra next to each with the Rasenshuriken requiring four along with something that appeared to represent wind while the shadow clone technique only required two.

(AN: Yes, this is a Pokémon card.)

"Um…princess, I am quite…flattered," Naruto said, mentally cursing his fate for the next week. Maybe Neji had the right idea when he was young. Fate really was a bitch.

The princess didn't appear to hear him and just continued to show him whatever else she had in her collection of Naruto goods. Noticing the symbol of Konoha on all of these products, he realized that this was how Konoha subsidized missions the village requested of itself. Missions requested by customers were funded, but missions required for village security or for securing political alliances needed to be funded in a different way. Looking at the excited princess dump more items on him, Naruto realized that taxes must not have been enough.

"Look, I have posters of you, too! I am not allowed to decorate my room, but I try to look at these at least twice a day!"

He swore that he was going to kill Kakashi once he got out of there.

And maybe kill the original Naruto as well for sticking him in this situation. "Naruto" was tempted to just dispel himself.

…except for some reason he wasn't able to dispel.

Right.

He had forgotten that he was a damn _chakra_ clone, not a shadow clone, that operated on a set amount of chakra and wasn't directly linked to the original's chakra reserve.

So it was impossible for him to dispel unless he died or he ran out of chakra. Only the original could dispel him.

The only thing he could do at this point was to try to use up all the chakra he had in his body. But even with one-hundredth of the original Naruto's chakra, he had more than most A-rank ninjas. Even if he destroyed the entire capital, he would still have chakra left to burn.

"Naruto" groaned.

It was going to be a long week.

* * *

**Mountains, Land of Frost – April 30, AK 22 (mid-afternoon)**

"Hinata, run!" Konohamaru jumped in front of her, summoned a shadow clone, and held out both his arms to gather chakra for a double Rasengan. His shadow clone did the same.

Immediately, everyone spurred into action.

"Hyuuga! Run away!" Tajiri shouted as she tossed half a dozen explosive tags.

Konohamaru saw Hinata nod and run off at top speed in the opposite direction.

_BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!_

Konohamaru saw the four Kumo ninjas about to give chase. "I won't let you!" Konohamaru and his shadow clone both body flickered in mid-technique, something only Shisui Uchiha was competent at. "Twin Rasengan!" they both shouted.

The Kumo ninjas managed to dodge but the four different Rasengan were enough of a distraction for Hinata to disappear from sight.

Konohamaru dispelled his clone to conserve chakra. He wasn't feeling tired just yet, but it was never a bad idea to conserve energy. Especially when he was in a battle with three A-ranks and an S-rank.

To be honest, the situation was quite hopeless, even for a talented ninja like him, but Konohamaru was not going to go down without a fight. It was what Naruto would do.

"Captain Darui! What the hell do we do now?" a redhead with dark skin yelled out. "The Hyuuga got away!"

"So you _are_ after Hyuuga," Takaishi accused in a cold voice. "Typical of trash from the Land of Lightning."

"What did you say, you damn tree-hugger?" the girl screamed as she was held back by one of her teammates, "Let go, Omoi! I'm going tear him apart!"

"Karui, calm down. They might be hiding some kind of weapon like the Spirit Bomb. If you rush in, you might get hurt." Omoi muttered.

"Oh, shut the hell up, you worry-wart! What the hell is a spirit bomb anyway? That sounds like something from that stupid manga you're always reading about dragon testicles or whatever!"

"Dragon _balls_! Not dragon testicles! Don't talk like that! The Eternal Dragon is going to—"

"You goddamn idiot! Are you even a man? I shouldn't have to explain stuff like this to you! Balls _are_ testicles!"

Konohamaru stepped forward, ignoring the two idiotic Kumo ninjas who were fighting over what to call the male genitalia. "What business do you have with Hinata and why do you want to take her to Kumo, assuming that Kumo is your home?"

They all knew the answer, of course. Kumo was going after the Byakugan again. And they chose to go after Hinata again.

This was merely a stalling maneuver.

"We have no reason to answer your question, you Konoha monkey," a blond ninja said. "Darui, she's heading south towards the Land of Hot Water. She might be trying to make a break for the Land of Fire."

Konohamaru internally smirked despite the insult hurled at him. _Yes, but you won't be able to send your strongest person after her because you'll have to deal with me. But Hinata is more than capable of taking down an A-rank if she just believes in herself. After all, she follows the same nindo that Naruto and I do. She'll give whoever goes after her a hard time.  
_

Despite his thoughts, a drop of sweat rolled down Konohamaru's neck.

Unfortunately, Konohamaru wasn't sure _he _could win against the strongest person in the Kumo squad. Darui was an S-rank threat. Konohamaru, on his best day, could perhaps take on all three elites or at least hold them off for an extended period of time, but there was no way he could fight even a delaying action with Darui in the mix.

But at the same time, Konohamaru had to prevent him from being the one to chase after Hinata at all costs. In the Konoha squad, Konohamaru was the only one who stood a chance against Darui. Konohamaru wasn't an S-rank by any means, but because of his regular spars with Naruto, Konohamaru could withstand the immense chakra pressure and killing intents from an S-rank. He could at least put up a decent struggle, unlike the others. And his trump card, a technique that he vowed never to use except in emergencies, allowed him to enter the territory of masters temporarily.

Konohamaru looked to his two subordinates. Tajiri and Takaishi were holding up relatively fine, but Konohamaru suspected that it was because Darui was currently holding much of his power back. Intelligence reports showed that he wasn't a bloodthirsty kind of person.

"Shee, you stay here with Karui and Omoi and take care of the ninjas here," Darui said after a moment. "None of them are too big of a threat so this mission should be rather dull. I'll chase after the princess."

_Shit! It seems like Darui isn't playing around if he's going after Hinata himself. This little trap of theirs was definitely sanctioned by the Raikage._

Konohamaru quickly shared a look with his teammates and nodded. They would cover him while he distracted the four Kumo ninjas. After all, the two of them didn't stand a chance in an open fight.

"You won't have chance to go after her, you bastards!" He roared as he created a clone.

"Fire Release: River of Flame!" shouted his clone.

A couple of water techniques shot out from behind him towards a black lightning bolt. The black lightning vaporized the water instantly and kept moving towards him.

"Captain," Takaishi warned. "Watch out for that black lightning! It's incredibly powerful!"

Konohamaru didn't need the warning. He regularly kept his bingo book updated and knew that Darui had two signature moves: the Storm Release and the Black Lightning.

"Something like that isn't going to stop me!" Konohamaru yelled back, thanking Naruto for teaching in the technique he was about to use, "Ninja Arts: Oil Stream!"

_Collaboration Technique: Flowing White Flame Blast! _Konohamaru intoned in his head. _Never figured out how to do collaboration techniques by myself like Grandpa did, but shadow clones take care of that little problem._

The red flame became white-hot the moment it touched the oil and then actually_ absorb_ the black lightning. The lightning coated fireball continued to head towards the enemy.

"Storm Release: Laser Barrier!"

The rapidly traveling white fireball hit the mixed wall of water and lightning and turned into steam.

Konohamaru cursed. His attack should have been able to pierce that wall. The cold temperature of the area was probably not helping with the power of his techniques.

What made things worse was that Konohamaru was at an elemental disadvantage. He had fire and earth, while Darui had water and lighting. And that wasn't counting the other elemental attacks from the other elites.

Konohamaru needed to continue hitting them with a barrage if he wanted to have any chance of distracting them long enough.

It was time to use his trump card.

Using the principles of the Rasengan, he released fire natural chakra around him and made it move around him as quickly as possible. He didn't have a way to combine the Rasengan with elemental attacks like Naruto did so he created his own larger scale technique that was more suited to his hit-and-run fighting style instead of Naruto's ambush-and-then-tank style. The rotating fire would increase the heat of the air around him to such a degree that it would boil any water attacks before they reached his body. The heat was strong enough to completely melt metal after a ten or so seconds and more than enough to kill _most_ enemies instantly if they got within one meter of him. It was to be seen if Darui had some sort of defense that would help him survive in the case they made contact.

"Fire Release: Genesis Flame Shroud," Konohamaru said in a serious voice as the flame began rotating at incredibly speeds around his body to the point that they became invisible. "Tajiri, Takaishi, make sure to stay away from me. You'll die if you come close."

There were two costs to this technique. First, was the technique's immense chakra cost, but Konohamaru had Naruto draw multiple chakra storage seals all over his body for him to keep the technique active for thirty minutes. It would take weeks, most likely months, to fully recharge all his storage seals again, but if it got them out alive, that was a very small price to pay. Second, this was the one technique he could not use in conjunction with the body flicker. The Genesis Flame Shroud itself boosted his natural speed, but it wasn't as fast as the body flicker.

Konohamaru raced towards Darui, taking any water attacks head on and boiling them away before they touched him. He kept continuing to intercept Darui whenever the man tried to run towards the direction Hinata had left. Konohamaru had lost a lot of speed, but his range grew larger to about a meter away from his body. He didn't have to remain completely in front of Darui to stop him from passing. The heat surrounding him would do that for him.

"Tch, you're really annoying," Darui grunted in a low voice as he jumped back due to the heat. "Storm Release: Laser Circus!"

Konohamaru dodged, not wanting to test whether his heat armor could burn away lasers.

As soon as he stopped, Konohamaru suddenly stumbled and collapsed. He was already out of chakra. He instantly opened one of the chakra storage seals to rejuvenate himself.

"Captain!" he heard Tajiri shout, "Watch out! Water Release: Water Gun!"

Konohamaru ducked but the spray of water boiled before it intercepted the lightning charged windmill shuriken. Konohamaru backhanded the rapidly melting shuriken and grit his teeth as he got shocked by the electricity that had been present in the shuriken.

He turned to look at the other three Kumo ninjas. After five minutes, they were no longer content with watching the battle and had decided to join.

He jumped over a energy slash made from a sword before Takaishi took out something that appeared like a gun and fired multiple chakra bullets at Omoi, the one who had attacked.

He immediately moved again to block Darui's path and lunged at the older man in vain. The man had already calculated the range of Konohamaru's Genesis Flame Shroud and made sure to keep out of reach from the scorching heat.

Konohamaru panted from the incredibly chakra cost of keeping up his chakra shroud. He was already out of chakra for a second time. He opened the second of the nine chakra storage seals on his body and felt the chakra run threw his body.

There was not much else he could do. He couldn't use a complementary area of effect technique he had because his teammates would be killed as well. He couldn't summon Enma without deactivating his fire shroud, which wasn't ever an option at any point in that battle.

He would have to either delay as long as he could, which appeared to be a maximum about twenty-one more minutes after he ran out of his current supply of chakra (three minutes per seal), or try to use an energy intensive but fast and unexpected attack in an attempt to take out Darui.

Opening a third chakra storage seal even without having depleted the chakra currently in his body, Konohamaru channeled even more fire chakra to his legs and used bursts of fire to speed up his motions beyond what was possible with even with the body flicker. It was incredibly stupid. His muscles would tear from the speed and he wasn't even sure the layer of chakra he had surrounding himself would protect him from the heat he was emitting, but it wasn't the time to hesitate.

Seeing an opening, he charged up a miniature Rasengan while in the flame shroud in less than a second and hit Darui. The Genesis Rasengan burned right through the Kumo ninja.

Konohamaru stopped and panted.

"Wait!" he growled out. There was something wrong. That had been _too_ easy. He thought he might be able to get an arm or a leg, but actually kill Darui? Darui was way too fast and strong to be taken out that easily. Konohmaru's eyes widened. "Release! Genjutsu!"

"Congratulations," Shee muttered in a dark voice as he appeared a few meters in front of him. "Lightning Illusion Flash of Lightning Pillar. You found out incredibly quick. You broke it in five seconds. But it's already too late. Darui's gone. He took that time to maneuver around you."

"Shit!" Konohamaru rushed in the direction that Hinata had left to try and catch up to Darui.

"I won't let you!" Konohamaru didn't even move when several enemy shadow clones attacked him and regretted it instantly. They hadn't been shadow clones; they were lightning shadow clones. The clones popped simply from the heat he was emitting but he was hit by the lightning discharge upon their "deaths."

"Tch." Ignoring the pain in his body, Konohamaru popped a soldier pill into his mouth instead of opening a fourth storage seal. Any medic around him would have scolded him for sacrificing his health to preserve his seals, but those seals were a pain in the ass to charge up. He could always get more soldier pills, but he would have spend a long time recharging his seals.

Konohamaru didn't like it, but it seemed like Hinata was going to have to try and hold off Darui while they finished off the small fries here.

He landed in front of Shee who was sporting an evil smirk despite feeling the heat and pressure from the heat shroud. "I have a thin layer of water chakra around me. It's hot and I'm sure I'll suffer some second degree burns, but you won't kill me fast enough with that," Shee shouted as he hopped away. "I'm a medic and I can heal any minor damage you do, Konoha trash!" Shee landed far away. "It's too late for your Hyuuga friend. You know as well as I do that Darui is S-ranked. And none of you stand a chance either. Our entire squad is A-ranked or higher. You're the only A-rank and you're already tired from fighting Darui while the rest of us," Shee gestured to his own teammates, "are still fresh. You're as good as dead."

Konohamaru noticed that Takaishi was facing off with Omoi and Tajiri was facing off with Karui. It was strange how they each managed to pick out an opponent with the same gender, but Konohamaru wasn't going to ponder on irrelevant issues.

Not when he had his own enemy to rip apart.

He held out a hand and began to charge up his favorite technique, augmented by his Genesis Flame Shroud.

Let the idiot feel secure in his high rank and his flimsy water armor. Konohamaru had taken down two elites at once before. In terms of power, Konohamaru considered himself second only to Naruto. It was only his lack of skill in genjutsu and "low" intelligence that kept him from being S-rank.

This Shee, or whoever the hell he was, was in for a rude awakening.

"I can take someone like _you_ on my worst days and still win," Konomaru growled as he propelled himself at max speed at the Kumo ninja. Darui may have been fast enough to dodge it, but this idiot probably hadn't even noticed that Konohamaru had recovered his chakra by taking the soldier pill. "Genesis Rasengan!"

He smirked in victory as he felt Shee vanish from the heat of his shroud and rip apart from the force of the Rasengan.

"One down."

* * *

**Mountains, Land of Frost – April 30, AK 22 (late afternoon)**

"Give up, Lady Hinata," Darui said in a bored tone. "You should know that resistance is meaningless."

Darui had decided to fight from distance at the very beginning. First of all, the Hyuuga were known to be close range fighters. She would not be able to hurt him if he kept his distance. Second, while the Hyuuga clan members had an absolute defense in the Kaiten, the technique was chakra intensive and the user would eventually tire out.

Darui was aiming for that purpose. He wanted to avoid hurting her. She was going to be a princess of a new clan in Kumo. It wouldn't be proper to hurt such an important person.

Moreover, this person was going to be his future wife. He was already pushing it by kidnapping her; he would never earn her affection if he brutally hurt her on top of that. Darui wasn't particularly excited about the prospect of having to marry a girl he never met but the tone in Raikage's voice did not leave any room for discussion. The Raikage wanted him to marry Hinata Hyuuga.

Of course, there was also the fact that his fight with Konohamaru Sarutobi left him more drained than he had thought. The boy had been incredibly talented, using that incredibly dangerous fire technique to keep Darui at bay. Darui had stopped channeling chakra to his muscles for a split second in preparation for a large-scale technique and Konohamaru had seized that opportunity to strike. Had it not been for Shee's genjutsu, Darui was sure the boy's last technique would have cost him an arm or leg.

Darui didn't understand how Konoha even considered the boy an average A-rank. That Sarutobi kid combined rapid succession body flickers with his techniques when he wasn't using that fire armor of his, created with an S-rank flame shroud hot enough to boil A-rank water attacks instantly, _and_ augmented that technique with yet another A-rank technique. That alone should have put the boy at S-rank.

Darui shook his head. Darui's mind wandered to thoughts about the legendary Naruto Uzumaki. The last time they had met, Naruto had said that Konoha had given him a hard time over the years with regards to promotions.

Konoha's government was filled with idiots who couldn't recognize talent.

_Or maybe, they just have a misguided sense of what strength is. They seem to dislike and underrate power fighters like Konohamaru Sarutobi and Naruto Uzumaki in favor of finesse fighters like the Kakashi Hatake._

In any case, Darui had to conserve his chakra as much as possible. There was a miniscule chance that he had to fight off any people who might try to take the Hyuuga heiress back. But Kumo did not operate based on probabilities; they operated on certainties. Even something with a one percent was accounted for. Even then, some missions would still end in failure.

"I…I…I can't g…give up!" the Hyuuga princess panted.

Darui decided to stop his barrage of lightning strikes to give the girl a break.

"Why not?"

The girl gave him a confused look. "Because I simply can't! I promised to be strong. Strong for my friends. Strong for my family. I have been considered weak all my life. If I give up here, it is only confirmation that I am weak."

"We in Kumo do not think of you as weak," Darui said, shaking his head. _No, it's not a misguided sense of strength. I'm beginning to think that Konoha is just full of bigots._ "We have heard your story. We have heard of how your father constantly berated you for not being the harsh Hyuuga heir he desired. We have also heard of your love for Uzumaki and also of how he threw you to the side for your own sister. What is there left for you in Konoha?"

The Hyuuga princess grew silent at that. His words clearly had an impact on her. After all, he wasn't trying to be deceptive at all. Darui was merely showing her the truth. Konoha didn't value her at all.

"It is true that my father does not love me, and it is also true that Naruto does not love me, but neither of them have abandoned me. Father could have placed the Caged Bird Seal on me earlier but he trusted in me enough to give me time to grow. Naruto may not love me romantically, but he has been my inspiration for all my life. And this isn't even counting the many friends I have made in my life. I have plenty left in Konoha! I will make my family proud. I will _not _abandon my friends!"

"Even if Kumo can offer you all that and more?" Darui inquired. He had personally seen and worked with many Konoha ninjas during the last war and had always thought they were a bit strange. Their government itself was hypocritical and rotten to the core, much like governments elsewhere outside of Kumo, but the many of the ninjas were highly idealistic and sincere. "There are plenty of people you can be friends with in Kumo. In Kumo, you can become a _true _princess. We would not treat you like a spare only to be used when there is no other option." Darui noticed that the girl winced at that. "Come with us. You have fought admirably already. You owe nothing more to Konoha."

"I can't! Kumo is the village that kidnapped me when I was younger. Kumo is responsible for my uncle's death. And I can't ever approve of a village that seeks war with my home," the girl said fiercely.

"You misunderstand, Lady Hinata," Darui said with a shake of his head. "We do not seek war with Konoha. It is true that we are more militaristic than Konoha, but our village is peaceful as well. Many of us are people just seeking to live out our lives in comfort and peace." Darui paused. "As for your uncle, that was over seventeen years ago when Lord Ē first took office. While I am his right-hand man today, I don't know too many details about those events in the past before I rose to power. But I do know that he has changed much and isn't cruel. We are not the demons some of your villagers make us out to be."

The girl shook her head as well. "And _you_ don't understand. I cannot give up. To go to Kumo willingly would be the same as me giving up my dreams in Konoha. There are still things I must do for my family and friends back home. As long as I have breath in my body, I will not give up! That is my nindo!"

"Very well," Darui remarked in a low tone. He sighed and lifted up a hand. "As you wish. Lightning Release: Black Panther," Darui intoned.

He made sure to reduce the power. This was maybe the twentieth blast he sent from distance and the girl was on her last legs. This next technique would hit.

"Kaiten!" the girl cried out, but her sphere of chakra sputtered before disappearing. "AHHHH!"

Darui sighed as the Hyuuga princess crumbled to the ground after being hit by his black lightning technique.

The Hyuuga princess had put up a good fight, but was ultimately doomed to fail from the start. She was fairly strong for a jounin, but Darui was S-ranked. He could handle a dozen jounin in his sleep.

Still, Darui gave a small nod of respect to the now unconscious girl and was tempted to scoff in a manner uncharacteristic of him when he thought of Sakuma deeming this girl as weak.

_Hinata Hyuuga…she's anything but weak. _

Once again, he questioned the sanity of Konoha's leadership. Was Kakashi Hatake this blind, even with the insight granted to him by his Sharingan? Just how much did Naruto Uzumaki have to do to be given his S-rank status? Was he something like a triple S rank and begrudgingly given a mere S-rank?

Darui didn't even want to think about that. Just the thought was scary. And in any case, it didn't matter at this point. It wasn't his business whether Konoha devalued their gems. One man's trash was another man's treasure. Or in this case, one village's trash was another village's treasure.

Darui looked at the surroundings. There were broken branches and pieces of bark around the entire area, mostly from damages caused by the Hyuuga girl's Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm technique. Such damage didn't come from "weak" techniques. The girl hadn't managed to hit him even once, but it wasn't as if anyone else in the Hyuuga clan could.

If landing a hit on Darui was the measure of strength, then, by that logic, everyone in the Hyuuga clan was weak. There were only a dozen people in the world who could manage that.

The girl's personality was soft, but since when was gentleness and kindness considered weakness? Even someone as militaristic as the Raikage didn't care about a person's personality and temperament as long as the person had power to back it up. It was why the Raikage tolerated Lord Bee's horrible rapping.

Darui walked to her and was about to pick her up when he heard some footsteps near him.

"So…I hear that Kumo is trying to start a new Hyuuga clan. Can you tell me if that's true?"

Darui instantly twisted his body around to face the stranger and stood in a defensive stance. Just the fact that this man was able to sneak up on him meant that he was incredibly talented. Darui had not dropped his guard in the least.

He saw a man wearing a black mask, black robes, and a black cape and hood.

"Having to follow protocol is dull, but I'm going to have to ask you to state your name and purpose." Darui demanded.

Darui mentally cursed. His instincts told him that this man was S-rank and Darui wasn't fresh.

"Hm…purpose? I want to prevent a war…a war that you're about to start by kidnapping that girl. I can't let you disturb what little peace we have in this world."

Darui narrowed his eyes. They had done thorough checks on the perimeter to make sure no one was in the area. Was it space-time ninjutsu? If so, this person was extremely dangerous. And how did the stranger know to come to this place?

This operation was kept secret even to those in Kumo. Only a dozen people knew about it.

Darui shook his head. He would worry about the leak of information later when he got home. This man in front of him had to be taken down at all costs.

"And name?"

Darui rapidly motioned through hand signs. A fight was inevitable.

"Oh, I'm no one famous, but I believe they call me Kokuten."

* * *

AN: A double release. Might as well get the stuff I have out asap.

I'm going to get questions about this so I'll preemptively answer.

Konohamaru cannot use more than nine storage seals on his body because he doesn't have any more space on his body.

Each chakra storage seal takes about two to three weeks to fully charge up since he's storing away his own chakra into these seals for future use. Each of these seals can store up to the equivalent of his entire reserves so they take a long time to charge up. I had it set up this way so that Konohamaru wouldn't be overpowered. I think it's also representative of his and Naruto's character of being able to pull out more power when they absolutely must.

Explanation of the shadow clone technique in this story. Shadow clones draw chakra from the original all at equal rates. So if there are two shadow clones and one original, all three draw chakra from the same energy pool at the same rate. Therefore, they would be eating up chakra at three times the rate that Naruto would if he were the only Naruto present.

I am assuming _THIS_ is what Kishimoto meant when he tried to explain the shadow clone technique. The explanation of splitting chakra in halves or thirds make no sense if you consider subsequent creation of clones and not just immediate creation.

For example, let's say Naruto had 100 chakra units and Kakashi had only 1, which is the approximate ratio of chakra between base Naruto and Kakashi according to the manga. That means, when Naruto makes a shadow clone, both he and his clone will have only 50 left. Let's say that the clone dispelled and Naruto decides to make four clones. Since the first clone dispelled, Naruto would have 50 left only and he and his four new clones would split it five ways to give each of them 10. Let's say Naruto orders his clones to rush in stupidly as he always does and gets them all dispelled. Naruto this time makes NINE clones, leaving each of them with 1 unit left. I don't care if Naruto had started off with one thousand times the amount of chakra that Kakashi has. This splitting theory makes shadow clones absolutely makes no sense unless the person (1) creates a lot of clones in the beginning and (2) never creates new clones after the old ones expire.

Of course, this theory could be remedied by saying that any chakra that his clones didn't use would be returned to the original. But there's nothing in the manga that suggests this at all.

So, I am going to stick with my splitting the _usage _of chakra.


	23. Abduction - Transfer of Custody

AN: This is the last installment telling the story of the epic 30th of April. After this chapter, I will return to a pure chronologic order again.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. This is fanfiction, after all.

* * *

**Kabuto's Lab, Oto – April 30, AK 22 (late afternoon)**

Kabuto frown as when he saw his test subject explode. The Dispersion Seal didn't appear to be compatible with the Curse Seal at all. The person would gain unimaginable power for around ten minutes and would explode from the nature chakra that the Curse Seal drew upon. It explained why he was getting an increasing number of reports of aggression and death over the last few months among his newest recruits who had been dual-fitted with both seals.

When the problem first came up, Kabuto, of course, didn't tell anyone that little problem in order to gather more data. Many of his weaker and unessential soldiers combined the use of the Dispersion Seal and the Curse Seal for an extra edge in battle.

None of them returned alive.

From what Kokuten had said, Kabuto knew that the Dispersion Seal would separate chakra into its base constituents. But why did adding nature chakra cause the entire mixture to explode?

It warranted more investigation. It was a shame he was running out of people to experiment. Damn that Kokuten for restricting him to using only criminals.

He looked at the calendar. April 30.

Ah. That was right. Sakuma Hyuuga.

According to his _very_ well-placed spy, the arrogant fool was carrying out the joint operation with Kumo today to remove Hinata Hyuuga from Konoha.

What an idiot. Not even Kumo would escape Naruto Uzumaki's rage when he found out about the plot. Naruto didn't care about politics or hodgepodge like that. Sakuma was a fool if he thought he was going to take over the Hyuuga clan that easily. He would eventually get caught, executed, and then buried. Kabuto would just have to make sure he extracted Sakuma from Konoha somehow and pluck those lovely eyes out of his head.

"Kabuto."

Kabuto didn't even bother turning around. It was Kokuten. No doubt the man brought yet another batch to test.

It was good timing. Kabuto was going to try and "negotiate" a way to obtain more subjects.

"Yes?" Kabuto said in a pleasant tone. "Another batch?"

"No," came the low garbled voice. "I have come to end you."

Eyes wide, Kabuto instantly leapt backwards as the man released a huge wave of fire. "What is this for?" Kabuto yelled indignantly. Kabuto grit his teeth before activating his chakra scalpels. "Men!" Kabuto called out as he pressed a button. "Get down into the lab. We're being attacked."

"Chakra scalpels?" the cloaked man laughed. "Are you that sure that I am not using a Dispersion Seal myself? Your chakra-based attacks will not work."

Kabuto frowned. The man was right. While the yin-yang shaped glow of the Dispersion Seal was nowhere present on the man, it was possible he was using one under his clothes.

Sage Mode was probably the only option. The man had shown that the Dispersion Seals had a limit. Sage Mode was Kabuto's best shot at punching through that limit. And furthermore, sage chakra was inherently different from normal chakra and might be able to slip through the nullification power of the Dispersion Seals. Kabuto slowly felt a huge power surge in him as the seals on his own body gathered nature chakra for him. He immediately began to mold the nature chakra with his own to create sage chakra while moving backwards to put more space between him and Kokuten. Kabuto's chakra gathering seals had been the solution to the Sage Mode's requirement of remaining still.

Kabuto leered at the man. Kokuten might be strong, but like most S-ranks, he was arrogant. Kabuto would just have to take advantage of Kokuten's arrogance. As for Kabuto himself, his Sage Mode made him immune to genjutsu and the modifications on his body made him highly resistant to damage from taijutsu and ninjutsu. Kabuto would not fall easily.

Just then, the door burst open and twenty of his finest soldiers showed up, each using a Dispersion Seal. "Boss! We're here to back you up."

Kokuten laughed. "Kabuto, now you're fighting me with the tools I gave you. In the end, you never could be yourself. You always stole the work of others and tried to claim it as your own."

Kabuto's eyes widened when the man lifted up his mask. "You?! Impossible!"

Kabuto looked at his Naruto's red eyes and glowing face. His eyes were blazing with anger. "That's right. I gave you a chance. I let you live because I saw that you were cleaning up the streets. You were experimenting on people, but only on those who truly deserved a fate. It was arrogant of me to judge criminals like that, but still, in a sense, I thought that justice was being served. But," the man paused, "you grew more and more ambitious. You wanted to make the entire world your plaything. I can no longer close my eyes to your actions."

"What are you talking about?" Kabuto said in a panicked tone. He had thought he kept his plans secret to all but his strongest and most reliable men. "I had no such plans!"

"Tell that to Ranmaru," was the simple response.

Kabuto's eyes flashed with anger.

That _bastard_!

Ranmaru must have been a spy!

Kabuto had been greatly intrigued with his eyes and had let his guard down when the boy came to him seeking for food and shelter. Kabuto had trained Ranmaru and ran tests on the limits of his ocular power. He never would have thought the fifteen-year-old boy was a spy.

Kabuto had let his guard down because of his thirst for knowledge. Naruto must have known as well and purposely recruited Ranmaru for that sole purpose.

His men chose that time to attack.

"DIE!" they shouted as they charged.

Kabuto kept molding more sage chakra to prepare his attack.

Kabuto watched as Naruto tore his men apart.

"Wind Release: Gust of the Heavens!"

The blonde swung his arm and hit everyone in the room with a powerful tornado of wind.

"Useless!" Kabuto cackled. "These are my best soldiers! They, like me, have the modified and enhanced genes of the Uzumaki clan spliced into their DNA. They will regenerate any injuries you inflict upon them!"

"Rasengan!" Naruto shredded one of the man into pieces from what was probably a supercharged Rasengan even though it looked "normal."

Kabuto growled. The damn boy just got on his nerves.

"You!"

"There seems to a be a limit to the regeneration," Naruto murmured with giving indication that he heard Kabuto's previous declaration. Kabuto froze as he felt a tremendous surge of chakra from the man as he flashed through several hand signs. "I guess I'll just have to kill you all before you can regenerate. Let's see if you all survive this. Fire Release: Rising Twin Phoenix Tornado." Kabuto steeled himself as a raging firestorm whirled around them.

Kabuto coated himself with sage chakra to protect himself from the effects of the firestorm that resulted. Even so, he could feel his skin getting burned.

After a very long minute, the fire died out. Kabuto panted. If he didn't have _both _Sage Mode and the regeneration power of the enhanced Uzumaki genes spliced into his body, there was no doubt that he would have died. The proof was before him. All his genetically modified soldiers were little more than ashes.

Kabuto grit his teeth. They had been the product of over six years of research. And Naruto had come and ruined it all. Kabuto would make sure that Naruto paid with his life. This…this was unacceptable.

"So even someone like you can be underhanded," Kabuto said in a silky voice despite the pain and anger he felt. "To betray a colleague like this."

"Betray?" the glowing blonde smirked as the rest of smoke cleared. Kabuto took a quick glance around him. There was nothing left of his lab except a huge crater thirty meters wide. "You were the one who betrayed me first. You should have been satisfied with just doing research on criminals and bandits. I told you not to make moves against the great villages. You're the one who disobeyed _me._ I can't forgive you for wanting to conquer the world."

"I never asked for your forgiveness," Kabuto hissed. "Nor do I need it. The world has progressed and evolved because of people like me carrying out research. I don't need your permission to carry out what is my right and duty!"

"And I don't need your permission to end your life for doing something heinous. So here we are," Naruto remarked, gesturing to the destruction around him. "Our two missions in life are incompatible. Let's see which one is stronger."

Kabuto sneered. "Even if you kill me, another like me will rise. You cannot stop progress!"

The time for talk was over. Kabuto knew that he was facing a vastly overpowered enemy. He needed to end this quickly because Naruto would never get tired with his endless supply of the Kyuubi's chakra. Kabuto rushed forward, creating claws made of pure sage chakra. For the last six years, Kabuto had kept modifying his body to be the strongest possible body, even beyond those of his best soldiers. Even forbidden jutsus designed to level an entire village would not kill him easily.

Kabuto swung with his left arm only to have Naruto sidestep the swing. Kabuto used his momentum to move into a turning hook kick. Kabuto would use Naruto's overconfidence against him. No matter how strong he became, Naruto was still that immature brat who wanted to show off. Even now, Naruto was hell bent on proving his superiority and had dodged with the least amount of energy needed. Kabuto wrapped sage chakra around his leg to give it additional range. Unless Naruto completely dodged, he would get hit.

_Whoosh!_

Kabuto only hit air. Naruto was now behind him and Kabuto found that he couldn't move his body. _Shit! Fuinjutsu!_ Kabuto thought in panic as seals started to cover his body._ The one ninja art that could affect me! How did he know?! I never fought him in Sage Mode before, so he couldn't have known what to use so quickly! Unless…_

Kabuto suddenly remembered the rumors of Naruto beating Pein with using some other power than the Kyuubi Mode. _This kid! He knows Sage Mode! He must have learned it from the toads! People only talked about his Kyuubi Mode after the war, but he also knew Sage Mode! This is really bad! I have to get out of here somehow. I severely underestimated him._

"Kabuto, you're finished. I already remotely detonated all the Dispersion Seals I gave you. It was a fail-safe in case you got over your head and tried to do something like this. Any men out on your field who had them on are now in pieces. Even if they can regenerate the damage, they will no longer be able to use the seals. And now, you too will die. Shadow Clone technique!"

"No, wait!" Kabuto desperately shouted out as another copy of Naruto appeared, "I'll give you information! My spies! My spies have found out that Kumo is kidnapping the Hyuuga clan heiress right now. You can go intercept them now! Just let me live!"

"Thanks for the information, but that won't be enough to buy you your life. I already knew that before I came here. I'm in a hurry so please die quickly. You may have survived the first technique, but I doubt you'll survive this one. Wind Release: Rasengan."

"Fire Release: Rising Twin Phoenix Tornado!" the clone shouted out.

They both chanted. "Collaboration technique: Heavenly Dome of White Flames!"

Kabuto didn't know how long he screamed as he felt the fire roasting his skin while the thin blades of wind slashed into his body. Was it five minutes? Six minutes? Ten? It felt like eternity. Somewhere in the middle of the technique, Naruto had disappeared, presumably confident that his technique would finish his enemy off, and because he was in a hurry to save Hinata Hyuuga.

Kabuto suddenly found himself pulled out of fire sphere of doom by a rope made of some strange green energy. He tried to run chakra through his body and found that he couldn't. His chakra circulatory system was completely destroyed. From how his body felt, he knew that both layers of his skin had been burned off and that muscle and bone were showing. Without his chakra circulatory system intact, his regenerative powers from his own ability, the Uzumaki genes, and Sage Mode would not work.

He was scarred for life.

And there was nothing he could do about it.

It was only the physical modifications he made to his body that were keeping him alive. He needed much less oxygen, chakra, and blood than the average human to survive.

"Kabuto."

Despite the pain, Kabuto's eyes widened at the voice.

"Uchiha. Sasuke Uchiha."

* * *

**Mountains, Land of Frost – April 30, AK 22 (late afternoon)**

"Kokuten? I never heard of you."

The man chuckled. "No, I don't suppose you have. I haven't really revealed myself to anyone. Konoha's managed to attack me a few times, but I doubt they know who I am."

"So you're not a Konoha ninja?" Darui asked, his hands still in place for the technique he was about to use. If this Kokuten were a Konoha ninja, it would be the worst-case scenario. Kumo may lose the Hyuuga princess _and_ would have to pay reparations to Konoha after being caught red-handed. Then it suddenly hit him. "You're the one who had been carrying all those attacks on our borders!"

"Correct. As for who or what I am, it's not like I am trying to hide anymore so I suppose I can be more open with information. Hm…" the man mused. "I suppose you can call me a free spirit," Kokuten continued chuckling and then suddenly, almost as an afterthought, jumped into a strange pose. "I'll do this once. Just once. For old times' sake." Darui looked at him in confusion. "I am known far and wide—from the north to the south, and from the east to the west. The ladies can't resist me and the men can't help but respect me. I am the handsome man that can silence a crying child! I am the amazing, handsome, legendary warrior of justice…Kokuten!"

Despite the situation, a sweat drop appeared on the side of Darui's head. This Kokuten was ridiculous. That sounded almost as silly as the stories he heard about—

"Are you Lord Jiraiya by any chance?" Darui stammered with wide eyes. That…that…that strange introduction was similar to what the legendary Jiraiya regularly used when giving his name and status. It was true that the Sannin was dead, but there were techniques to bring the dead back to this plane of existence. And the man said that he was a spirit. It wasn't too much of a stretch to think that this man was Lord Jiraiya.

"The old pervert is probably having a field day in the afterlife that someone recognized his lame introduction," Kokuten continued chuckling. Darui tensed when the man's voice grew dangerous. The atmosphere was completely different from what it had been before. Darui shuddered as he was reminded of the _last _villain to have personality switches: Obito Uchiha, who had gone by the alias of Tobi and Madara. "But this party's over. You will hand that girl over to me now."

Darui instantly placed his hands on the ground to place the seal he had prepared. An impenetrable chakra dome rose around the unconscious Hyuuga princess.

"I am afraid I can't do that," Darui said in a low tone that was just as dangerous. "Mission from Kumo aside, I cannot hand over my future wife to someone I don't even know."

"Future wife?" Kokuten asked coolly. "An _unwilling_ wife, I presume?"

"Irrelevant," Darui muttered as he flashed through hand signs again. "Storm Release: Laser Circus!"

The entire area was blasted apart. Darui could feel the electricity and heat all around him. _It's still not over. He's a space-time ninjutsu user and could have dodged that with very little effort._

There was a gust of wind that cleared the smoke away.

"Impressive power," the stranger complimented, without a hint of any damage even though he hadn't moved. "But ultimately a waste of chakra. Not smart for someone who's already low."

Darui's jaw dropped. "Im…impossible!"

It would have been plausible if the man had dodged. It would have been _possible_ if the man had blocked. It was _impossible_ that the man had stood there without receiving any damage. It didn't seem anything like the intangibility technique of Obito either, as a small radius around Kokuten was completely unaffected. The Laser Circus wasn't his strongest technique, but it still strong enough to level multiple buildings. The man had simply taken it head on and escaped without a single scratch.

Darui stepped back away from the man in trepidation before realizing that his back was to the chakra dome he had erected around the Hyuuga princess.

"You can try again," the man offered.

Darui narrowed his eyes. There was something wrong here. Darui's eyes went to the now glowing seals shaped in yin-yang circles that were glowing on Kokuten's mask and robes.

_Fuinjutsu…he must have used some kind of fuinjutsu to weather the attacks. Given the damage around here, it's not a space-time seal that teleports the attack away. It's a seal that prevents any attack from entering an invisible barrier around him. It's somewhat like the barrier that I erected around the Hyuuga girl.  
_

It seemed that chakra attacks wouldn't work. It would have to be taijutsu and weaponry then. Darui pulled out his cleaver sword and rushed towards the cloaked man.

The man easily ducked under Darui's swing and then parried the next blow with a staff he pulled out.

_Clang!_

Darui jumped back. "I see. You dodged and blocked. So you not immune to weapons." Darui rushed in again, this time with a body flicker and several shadow clones. "Cloud Style: Reverse Mist Beheading!" His shadow clones attacked from all four sides he himself attacked from the top.

Darui managed to land hits on Kokuten, but it honestly looked like only the cloak was slightly ripped in several places. The man wasn't injured in the least. The man had simply positioned his body and moved in a way to incur the least amount of damage, almost as if he knew where every hit was going to land.

Darui ducked as the staff passed over his head and flipped back while kicking with his feet. Kokuten leaned back to avoid the kick and swung his staff as the yin-yang seals on his clothes faded away.

The Raikage's right-hand man put up his cleaver to block and instantly regretted his choice.

"A lightning blade?!"

He didn't have time to channel chakra into his own sword before the lighting-coated staff pierced his cleaver in less than half a second. Darui barely managed to let go of his sword and shift his body to avoid a fatal blow. The staff missed him, but the lightning on it jumped and shocked him.

Darui clutched his now slightly paralyzed left arm.

"You're incredibly fast. I didn't think you'd be able to dodge that. You really are deserving of your rank."

The Kumo ninja ignored the other man and tested his strength and reflexes in his left arm. The lightning coating the staff had changed from the piercing kind to the shocking kind at the last second. Just what was this Kokuten planning?

"But at the same time, it seems that I wasn't able to avoid that attack completely. Still, I wasn't hurt as much as I could have been because the attack itself had no killing intent. Just what is your purpose?"

Darui hoped that the time he bought would be enough for his arm to recover a bit.

Kokuten shrugged. "Just to rescue that girl. That's honestly it. Will you hand her over?"

"Even if I wanted to return Hinata Hyuuga, I can't. She knows that the abduction attempt was sanctioned by Kumo. Konoha cannot know."

"That's something you fools should have considered before taking this foolish mission," Kokuten snarled, showing anger for the first time. "Your Raikage is always obsessed with bloodlines and secret techniques. He's the aggressor here."

"We will do anything to help the people of our village," Darui defended. "We collect power to protect them."

"Oh, how nice," came the sarcastic response. "You and you Raikage claim you don't want war, but you carry out moves that greatly anger other nations. That's like a fat person lying on the couch all day eating like a pig but claiming he wants to be skinny." Kokuten sighed. "Are you even listening to your line of reasoning right now? Just stop this foolishness."

"There won't be war if Konoha doesn't find out!" Darui snapped back. He wasn't going to let this stranger insult Lord Raikage. "And besides, Hinata Hyuuga was unhappy in Konoha. _We _will treated her the way she should be treated."

Kokuten shook his head. "Then I'm sure she would willingly go with you to Kumo if you ask her nicely." There was a pause. "And you probably did ask. And she probably said no."

Darui frowned. It didn't seem like the man had listened to his and the Hyuuga princess's conversation given his use of the word "probably," but it was strange that the man knew exactly what had happened.

"How did you know that?"

Kokuten removed his mask. "Because I'm her friend. I know how she thinks."

Darui's eyes widened as he looked straight into the blonde's blue eyes. "Naruto Uzumaki!"

He cursed. He should have know from that silly introduction Uzumaki had done earlier. Uzumaki was Lord Jiraiya's pupil, after all.

Uzumaki just assumed a sad smile. "I'd love to catch up and maybe even ask about Bee, but I really can't afford to waste anymore time here. You'll have to excuse me for taking this seriously."

In a quick millisecond, Darui did a quick mental checkup on his arm. It was almost fully recovered.

They both flashed through hand signs rapidly.

"Storm Release: Laser Cannon!"

"Wind Release: Gust of the Heavens."

Darui put his arms up to shield his eyes from the dust that kicked up. It was sheer insanity to try to match a two element technique with just one, but Naruto was doing it and _succeeding_.

It was at that moment that Darui knew he was completely outclassed. He didn't have a chance to think about it because Uzumaki had somehow teleported right in front of him and landed a powerful uppercut.

"Urgh!"

He coughed up some blood as he soared through the air with multiple kicks to his back. "Uz. Zu. Ma. Ki." He felt a presence and put his arms up to block a heel aimed at his stomach. "Naruto Combo!"

_Boom!_

Darui landed on the ground. He slowly got up to his knees inside a small crater that formed from the impact.

"Water Release: Hydro Rotation."

He put up his hands to block the water whip but was sent crashing into a tree from the sheer power of the whip.

Coughing, he called out. "Lightning Release: Black Shock Shell."

He took a deep breath as a ball of lightning formed around him. It was a defensive technique that would shock anyone who touched the barrier. It would also hopefully goad Uzumaki into using a powerful offensive wind technique.

Darui took out a scroll that had a powerful forbidden fire technique stored inside of it that Kumo had stolen from a village in the Land of Hot Water. Darui carried it with all times for situations just like this one where he would have to fight a powerful ninja with a wind affinity. Once Uzumaki used a wind technique, he would reflect the attack back to Uzumaki with a wind-amplified fire technique.

He was suddenly crushed onto the ground from tremendous pressure. He lightning barrier kept lashing out at the ground until it dissipated completely.

"Earth absorbs water, but with time, water can erode the earth. Water can put out fire, but with enough power, fire can boil water. Fire is strengthen by wind, but with enough force, wind can direct a flame's path. Wind insulates against electricity, but electricity can be formed by vibrations in the air. Lightning pierces earth, but earth can ground lightning," the blonde lectured. "You guessed correctly that I would use wind, but I used the very earth against to combat your technique instead of attacking you with wind. A true master of the elements fully understands how to overcome the weaknesses of each element instead of just using an attack with another element. And seriously, did you think I missed the fact that you took out that scroll? A scroll with the word 'fire' on it?"

_I…I can't breathe! It feels like something heavy is on top of me. And what is it with Naruto? He's not acting like himself at all. His fighting style is completely different, too!  
_

"I will repeat myself once more. I am trying not to hurt you. But do not take my restraint for weakness," Uzumaki explained. "I can easily kill you and undo the seal myself. It will take an hour or two, but I can do it. I just want to save myself the time."

Giving up the Hyuuga girl was not an option. Somehow Uzumaki managed to sneak his way into becoming a fuinjutsu master without anyone knowing, but even he would have difficulty cracking a technique that was created and modified by dozens of sealing elites and masters over the last few decades.

"Urgh!" Darui groaned as he tried to reach for a low-grade explosive tag. He flared his chakra as much as he could and felt the pressure diminish a bit.

He took that opportunity to grab a tag from his pouch. It was incredibly risky, but the explosion from the explosive tag might blow the wind off of him long enough for him to get out of the technique. It would come at a cost, but he couldn't fail the mission that his leader gave him. If Darui couldn't finish the primary mission, he would have to complete the secondary mission at least.

The pressure was suddenly gone.

"Reckless," Kokuten commented while shaking his head. "You'll only kill yourself with that attitude. Just hand Hinata over to me."

Darui slowly stood up. His eyes flickered towards where the yin-yang shaped seals had once been. If Darui's guess was correct, that meant that Naruto was currently susceptible to attacks.

Maybe that seal was a one-time use seal or had some kind of time limit.

Darui rushed towards an impassive Uzumaki, and launched his strongest non-suicidal attack.

"Storm Release: Laser Flare!"

_BOOOOOOOOOOM!_

Darui covered his eyes as everything in front of him was destroyed.

As the smoke cleared, he found himself standing some distance in front of a indent in the ground about three meters wide, fifty meters long, and a meter deep at its lowest point.

Darui was about to smile in victory. He felt the technique hit a body. Naruto hadn't been able to escape using a space-time ninjutsu. Nor was that troublesome seal active. The Laser Flare was one of the strongest attacks in the Elemental Nations, a huge energy beam of hyper-dense water and lightning nature chakra. Even if Uzumaki was strong, he couldn't have escape unscathed. Even Lord Bee said that he wouldn't be able to withstand it.

"Not bad." Darui flipped when he heard Uzumaki's voice behind him. Darui brought his hands up to make hand signs for another ninjutsu technique when Naruto slammed his staff against Darui's left hand and broke it. "At least when it comes to power. But you're forgetting speed and misdirection. Did you even consider that I might use genjutsu to fool you?"

Genjutsu? What the hell?

Naruto Uzumaki did _not _use genjutsu.

It was true that Darui had been too focused on Kokuten's yin-yang seal and that strange ability of his to block any chakra-based attack and might have missed that his opponent used something like a genjutsu, but Uzumaki _never _used genjutsu. _Ever_.

He began to doubt if the person in front of him was Naruto Uzumaki.

Still, Uzumaki, or whoever it was, had fooled Darui using the same strategy that he and Shee had used to Konohamaru Sarutobi.

"I'm an idiot for falling for such a dull trick," Darui panted. Not only was his left hand broken, but his reserves were now dangerously low after he put almost everything he had in that last technique. "But the fact remains. You need me to undo this seal on the Hyuuga princess. That is why you have kept me alive."

Uzumaki shook his head. "You're wrong. I am merely tired of all this fighting and killing. I already told you my purpose. I merely seek peace. Killing you would not help achieve that."

Darui was somewhat confused at the sad tone. "Peace?"

"Peace. The great villages constantly jostle to be on the top and participate in an unending and hidden war called the balance of the power. That war is already bad enough. But by kidnapping the Hyuuga heiress, you will be bringing that hidden war to the surface where everyone can see it and be affected by it."

Darui found himself intrigued by the Konoha ninja's words.

No, this _was_ Naruto Uzumaki. Only someone like him could use words to affect his enemy like this. It was yet another reason he was dubbed the "Sun." His bright words often sapped any ill-will that people had for one another and made people want to believe in something as ludicrous as permanent peace in the world.

Darui lowered his stance. At this point, it didn't matter if he defended himself or not. Darui knew that if Uzumaki attacked, he was dead.

"From our point of view, Konoha would not have the proof it needs to justify a war to its people and Kumo would gain a powerful bloodline."

"I suppose you're right," Uzumaki said offhandedly. "Even if I told Konoha that I intercepted you, no one would believe me unless I brought you back. But if I kill you, then the Raikage would claim that I was the aggressor and I was just trying to frame Kumo. So I would have to bring you back alive. I really don't want to have to do that."

Darui raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Uzumaki sighed. "Give me Hinata and I'll let you go. I'll even claim that Konohamaru and Hinata were fooled by an elaborate genjutsu so as to not implicate Kumo."

Darui shook his head. "Since when did Uzumaki tell people to give up? Isn't this a bit hypocritical?"

"A person should never give up standing up for what is right. A person should never give up when protecting his or her precious people. Never did I promote persisting in aggressive actions that could lead to war. Go back home, Darui. You won't lose anything because of it."

The offer was somewhat tempting, but Darui had to shake his head. He would never be able to face Lord Raikage if he turned back to save his own life.

"I can't. Lord Raikage is counting on me. I will not abandon my mission."

"You could tell him that the mission was compromised because Sakuma Hyuuga leaked information on accident," Uzumaki offered.

Darui's eyes widened. How did Naruto know about even that? He and the Raikage were the only ones who talked to Sakuma and knew of Sakuma's role in this operation. To the rest of those involved, it was merely a "Hyuuga contact," not Sakuma Hyuuga, who provided the necessary information.

"How?" Darui demanded.

"Why?" Uzumaki fired back.

"Why?" Darui asked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Why should I reveal to you how I got that information?" the blonde responded. "Information is power in this world of ours and I have no intention of handing more power to you people. I already told you more than enough as it is. And besides," Uzumaki gestured to Hinata, "Despite Kumo being widely regarded as the strongest of the ninja villages, you pull off something deplorable like _this_. Just how much more power do you need?"

Darui forced his left hand into hand signs with the help of his right hand. It was slow and excruciatingly painful, but it had to be done. Darui knew that the legendary Sun of Konoha noticed, but it seemed like he didn't care.

At this point, it didn't matter how Uzumaki knew what he knew. Darui didn't have time to worry about the Hyuuga princess.

The primary mission had been to abduct the girl. The secondary mission, in case of failure of the primary mission, was to prevent anyone from finding out. He needed to kill Uzumaki. If the girl died in the crossfire, it would be unfortunate, but Kumo could not afford the information Uzumaki had to get out. While Uzumaki claimed he would keep the information to himself, there was nothing really preventing him from doing the opposite.

If Konoha somehow gained the information Uzumaki had, then war would be inevitable.

Darui was out of chakra, but he could convert his life energy for one final blast.

"You'll die if you fire that technique," Uzumaki commented matter-of-factly as Darui kept moving his fingers slowly. "You'll even kill Hinata."

Darui didn't deny it. He would die firing off a bomb that touched the power level of a bijuu bomb. Unlike the first technique where the blast was away from him, this technique had him at the epicenter. Even if he survived the loss of his life-energy, he would die from the explosion itself.

"We all knew the risks of this mission," Darui replied as he finished his last seal. All he needed to do was finish converting his life force. "If we were caught, we were to say that we were acting on our own and try to find a way to destroy our bodies. Since the entire operation was compromised, I have a duty to get rid of all the evidence implicating Kumo. There will be no remnants of any of our bodies and even of the Hyuuga heiress. There will be no proof that Kumo did anything besides host Sakuma Hyuuga on one of his trips. Even if Konoha were to interrogate Sakuma, war will not start simply because of the information gained from one greedy Main House Hyuuga. As long as you won't have our bodies, there is no proof besides your word."

"Stop this. I already agreed to withhold information from Konoha."

Uzumaki must be an idiot if he thought Darui would seriously believe that.

Darui ignored the other ninja and continued molding his life force as quickly as he could to turn his entire body into a huge bomb. There was no chance he could fight Naruto and win, even on a good day. But a Naruto with fuinjutsu and genjutsu on top of what Darui already knew Naruto to know? Even a _god_ didn't have a chance.

But he didn't need to win. He just needed to settle for a tie.

Finally, it was done.

"Storm Release: Ultimate Laser Bo—"

Uzumaki was much faster, however. Darui suddenly felt all his chakra he had converted from his life force dissipating. He looked down. The kid had tagged him with some kind of paper seal. It too had the same yin-yang symbol on it as the seals that had been on the stranger's clothing and mask.

_Crap! I was wrong. This wasn't a barrier seal to prevent attacks from reaching him. It was a chakra nullification seal._

"You fool! You just dug your own grave."

Darui wanted to respond but felt himself falling forward as he felt life leaving his body. He mentally whispered an apology to the Raikage. He couldn't even salvage it by completing the secondary mission to prevent Kumo from being implicated.

_My apologies, my lord…_

* * *

**Cave, Border between Land of Hot Water and Land of Frost – April 30, AK 22 (early evening)**

Konohamaru landed with Tajiri in his arms. The battle both had and had not gone well. Konohamaru was _easily _able to kill off Shee, the arrogant "elite" Kumo ninja who specialized in genjutsu and medical techniques. However, Omoi had killed Takaishi, and Karui had critically injured Tajiri in that same time frame.

In the end, it had been too much to ask a couple of C-rank chuunin to take on A-rank jounin.

It had been extremely fortunate that Konohamaru finished his battle quickly because otherwise both of his younger teammates might have died. It took releasing yet another one of his chakra storage seals to give Konohamaru to save his last teammate and escape. The only consolation was the Shee was dead and both Karui and Omoi were burned, Karui fatally so, from Konohamaru's Genesis Flame Shroud. Even if they found a way to survive, without immediate medical attention, Karui would die and Omoi would be crippled for life. The heat from the Genesis Flame Shroud was just that intense. Even Tajiri, who had been standing a meter away from the two Kumo ninjas, suffered some mild burns from the attack.

Instantly, after Konohamaru landed the attack, he had turned his flame armor off, grabbed him Tajiri and Taikashi's body, and used repeated body flickers to high-tail it out of there without waiting to see if Omoi could counter attack with only one functional arm or if Karui would launch a last minute suicidal attack even with her wounds.

Once they had escaped far enough, Konohamaru sealed Takaishi's body in a storage scroll and tended to Tajiri.

Her injuries did not look too good. He managed to prevent her from dying immediately, but if the girl didn't get professional medical attention in the next few hours, she would die.

Konohamaru was torn between his desire to go after Hinata and his desire to prolong Tajiri's life. It was about four more hours away to the border of the Land of Fire and a few more after that to the nearest town. If Konohamaru took extreme care, Tajiri could potentially make it back home alive. But that would mean dooming Hinata to a life of being a sex slave for Kumo.

For now, he had just resorted to sending a monkey back to Konoha as a messenger with a scroll detailing what had happened. The monkey he sent was extremely quick and would reach Konoha by early morning.

But Konohamaru knew that there wasn't anything Konoha could do. Konohamaru had failed to bring back anything that could be used as official proof besides his word. His word meant a great deal as he was clan heir of the Sarutobi clan, but Konoha would not start a war from just his words. Hell, Konoha didn't even start a war when Kumo had demanded Hiashi's body seventeen years ago.

And it wasn't like war was the perfect solution either.

"Captain?" Tajiri stirred as she woke up. "Ugh…"

Konohamaru sighed.

That sealed the deal.

If Tajiri was in good enough of a condition to regain consciousness, then he couldn't in good faith abandon her to chase after Hinata when it might already be too late the Hyuuga girl. Konohamaru wasn't close to Tajiri by any means, but her life was no less valuable than Hinata's.

Politics be damned and Hiashi Hyuuga could go to hell if he didn't like that. His daughters and clansmen weren't the only important people in the world.

"Don't move," Konohamaru ordered the chuunin girl. "You're critically injured. I've stopped the worst of the bleeding and fed you all the blood pills I have. I also found some medicinal herbs to help you deal with the pain, but you still need to take it easy. Although, if I have to be honest, things don't look so good for you right now so we need to get you to a medic somehow and quick. There's only so much I can do with battlefield treatment."

"Blood pills?" The girl asked in a dazed voice before her eyes sharpened for a second. "How did you get me to swallow them? And what about the herbs?"

Konohamaru groaned. The girl was not going to like his answer. Still, he had to be professional about it. And it _was_ protocol. "You couldn't swallow anything solid," Konohamaru remarked. "So I cracked open the blood pills and placed the fluids inside the pills in your mouth. As for the herbs," Konohamaru paused, "how do you think I fed you those?"

The nineteen-year-old girl blushed and gasped. She clearly was embarrassed that he had chewed on the herbs and fed her mouth-to-mouth. "B…bu…but, Captain!"

"It was either that or death," The twenty-year-old said matter-of-factly. "I figured that you wanted to live. I kissed you. I had my tongue in your mouth. So what? Get over it." He frowned. "This isn't the appropriate time for you to be worried about something like that. You're not in too much pain because of painkilling effects of the herbs, but you have a foot in the grave right now."

The girl immediate grew somber at that. "I…I see. What about Yamato?"

"Chuunin Takaishi is…"

No words were needed. Konohamaru could tell that Tajiri understood immediately. After all, she too had seen him get slashed by that Omoi before she herself was stabbed.

"I…I…I…he…um I knew him from basic training," Tajiri murmured in a soft voice. "We were placed on the same team often once we started being deployed in the field. I knew him for a long time."

Konohamaru nodded sympathetically. "I'm sorry I couldn't do anything to help. Our opponents were three elites and a master. The two of you were completely outmatched. The way the two of you fought with grit was admirable. The fact that you survived is miraculous in and of itself."

The girl didn't cry. Konohamaru figured that the news still hadn't completely hit her yet and that the painkillers were dulling her mind as well.

"Captain," she began. "I…I'm going to die, aren't I?" Konohamaru didn't say anything. "These wounds…I can't feel much, but I know that I was critically hurt. Some of my vitals were grazed."

He took his time to carefully word his answer. "I can't promise you anything. But I know for a fact that if we had a medic here, you would survive."

She shook her head lightly. "But we don't, Captain. So…so I want to tell you something before I die."

Konohamaru frowned but nodded. The girl was probably trying to leave some sort of will. "Is it something to tell your family?"

She giggled lightly at that. "No, nothing like that." She blushed, but began to sob lightly. "I never really mustered the courage before but…but I really like…"

He didn't have time to hear the rest of the sentence because he suddenly felt a presence in the area and faced the opening of the cave.

"Who's there?" he demanded out loud even if he couldn't see the enemy just yet.

He didn't know if it was an enemy but he didn't want to take any chances. He charged up a Rasengan and stood in front of Tajiri protectively. He lost one subordinate today and the older sister of his favorite training partner, but he wasn't going to lose the last one he was responsible for.

"I advise you to stand down, Konoha ninja."

A masked man dressed completely in black walked towards them.

"Who are you?" Konohamaru growled.

"I am called Taiyo no Kuroi Kokuten."

Konohamaru froze. This was _Sasuke Uchiha_.

This wasn't good at all. He clenched his fists.

"Don't lie. I know that you're Sasuke Uchiha. We were briefed about your activities and abilities."

Behind him, Tajiri gasped at the name.

"And?"

"And I'll kick your ass if you try to hurt Tajiri. As her captain, I'm responsible for her life. You won't be killing her on my watch, Sasugay."

Konohamaru was able to keep up the Rasengan active but he fell on his knees as a huge chakra pressure weighed down on him. Behind him, Konohamaru could hear Tajiri whimper in fear before passing out. _This aura. This pressure is unreal! It's at least twice more than what Naruto regularly exposes me to._

"Do not mistake me for a friend, Sarutobi. I have intercepted the Kumo ninja and have taken your Hyuuga friend into custody. It's probably not a good idea to insult me right now."

Konohamaru recoiled as if he had been hit, despite all the pressure in the area. Sasuke had beaten Darui? The battle couldn't have been more than two hours ago and Sasuke still looked like he was completely fresh. That meant that Sasuke _outclassed _Darui. Konohamaru repressed a shudder. This…this man was Naruto's rival. This was the one person in the world who was on Naruto's level.

That didn't mean that Konohamaru was going to just roll over and die without struggling though.

"W…where…is Hinata, you son…son of a bitch?!" he growled out, doing his best to fight against the pressure. If he had been close to full power, Konohamaru wouldn't have this much trouble, but with less than a tenth of his power, it was all he could do just to stay conscious. Konohamaru released another chakra storage seal, his fifth for the day. Immediately, he flared his chakra to brush off the pressure. "Rasengan!"

_Boom!_

Konohamaru landed the hit but soon found himself flying towards the other side of the cave. Before he could even move, Konohamaru felt a hand gripping his throat and holding him up.

There was a few seconds of silence as Konohamaru wordlessly tried to struggle.

"Weak," Konohamaru heard Sasuke drawl before being tossed to the side.

"Why didn't you kill me just now?" Konohamaru asked painfully. Konohamaru wasn't the most intelligent among the elites in Konoha, but he probably had one of the sharpest battle senses after Naruto. Konohamaru could tell that Sasuke had let himself get hit by the Rasengan just now.

"My purpose today isn't to kill anyone," Sasuke explained. He pointed. "I am just here to heal that girl over there."

"Like I'd let you anywhere near Tajiri," Konohamaru growled warningly as he stood up. His reserves were now full so he could put up a fight even though there was little he could actually do against Sasuke Uchiha. "Like you already said, you kidnapped Hinata. What's to stop you from kidnapping Tajiri even if you don't have any intent to kill her?"

"You don't have any choice," Konohamaru saw the man take a few steps forward. "I can easily overpower you, restrain you, and do what I want with the girl." Konohamaru stood defensively in front of Tajiri. "And you know as well as I do that the girl needs treatment immediately. That chakra pressure earlier wasn't just to intimidate you, Sarutobi. It was to knock the girl behind you out so I can treat her. The girl will be healed. You can either watch me willingly or you can watch while bound and gagged."

"You're a medic?" Konohamaru didn't relax even as he saw Sasuke's hand glow green.

"Stand aside," Sasuke merely replied. Konohamaru knew that it was the Mystical Palm technique used by medics. It didn't appear to be quite as refined as Sakura's or even Ino's, but it was definitely a healing technique and didn't have any killing intent in it. But he still didn't trust the Uchiha. "The girl will die without treatment," Sasuke explained. "You can either trust that I won't kill her or you can bet on the minute chance that she'll survive without treatment."

Konohamaru didn't like it, but there was little Konohamaru could do. Sasuke _was_ right. Tajiri would die in a few hours without any treatment.

"Why are you helping us? You ran away from Konoha years ago!" Konohamaru demanded as the man worked. Konohamaru was pleased to see that Tajiri's wound was slowly closing and her complexion was becoming better.

"And just why should I answer that? You ninjas of the great villages have a strange way of demanding things even when you're in no position to do so. I suppose it is an arrogance brought forth by decades of standing on top of weaklings."

"Why you?!" Konohamaru started before checking himself. Sasuke was still healing Tajiri. If Konohamaru attacked, Tajiri would get hurt as well. And in a way, Sasuke was correct. Konohamaru didn't like to criticize the village that his grandfather had given his life for, but Konohamaru could see too many flaws in how the village was run.

"How amusing." The man chuckled. "You know I speak the truth, but can't admit it because of your own pathetic ties to your village."

Konohamaru clenched his fists again. "That's none of your business. What are your plans with Hinata?"

If Konohamaru knew that he wasn't completely outclassed, he would have pounded the Uchiha's face in. No one insulted Konoha and got off lightly.

"To return her to Konoha along with the rest of you."

Konohamaru stood there, stunned. That was _not_ what he had expected. "What?! Aren't you an enemy?"

"I am," Konohamaru jumped back, startled, as the man stood up. "What?"

"I mentioned it earlier. Do not mistake me as a friend. You are my hostages. I'm going to use you to extract something of value from Konoha. I need all three of you alive for that."

"What?! You bastard! I won't let you!" Konohamaru quickly flashed through hand signs to activate his Genesis Flame Shroud, only to be knocked out when the man outflanked him and hit him on the back of the neck.

"Sleep…" was the last thing Konohamaru heard before everything went black.

* * *

**East Gate, Konoha – April 30, AK 22 (early evening)**

Ranmaru walked hand in hand with his "little sister" to the gatekeepers.

"Identification?"

"Here," Ranmaru said. "But we are the hired servants of our lord and he is a citizen of Konoha. I have the purchase receipts showing the name of our master."

"You're in luck," one of the guards said. "We had been ordered to not let in anyone who isn't a VIP because of some strange attacks on our borders. But given the identity of your master, we should be able to let you in."

Ranmaru grimaced. Those "strange attacks" were probably the attacks he made on scouting squads as Kokuten. He wasn't nearly as skilled as his sensei so had almost been caught multiple times. He hadn't killed a single person, but he doubted that Konoha or the other great villages even cared. They just cared that an unknown threat to them was running around. Fortunately, being able to teleport nearly at will made it incredibly easy to escape from enemies. The high-speed movement he demonstrated added to the myth of Kokuten.

"Oh wow!" Yuna chirped. "I didn't know Master was a VIP in Konoha. Hey, Big Brother Ranmaru, what does VIP mean anyway?"

"Very important person," the other guard chuckled out before Ranmaru could respond. "Your master saved this village many times so he is definitely a VIP."

"Do you have any proof besides your papers? We need something more than just papers as real proof that you belong to your master. Usually, we need a verbal confirmation, but considering the time, it may take some time before everything gets confirmed. Naruto is currently out of the village right now."

Ranmaru nodded. He had received the message from Sasame along with their ticket into the village. "Here is also his symbol. Our master said it was imbued with something called chakra."

Ranmaru held up the fist-sized coin made of pure gold and knew that the chuunin guards immediately recognized it. It had a swirl in the center that was surrounded by the symbols of the five different elements.

Sasame had been right. Once the guards saw that, their attitudes had completely changed from tense to completely relaxed. Naruto-sensei truly had Konoha completely fooled. Konoha believed that Naruto was the ultimate loyal guard dog for them.

_Idiots_. There was only so much you could manipulate someone until that person got sick of it.

"Hey," Yuna piped up. "Why didn't Master give me something like that? That gold symbol is pretty! Do you think Master will let me have that?"

Ranmaru groaned and apologized for his "little sister's" antics as the gatekeepers checked the symbol with a machine to confirm its authenticity and match the chakra signal.

"Yuna, settle down," Ranmaru admonished. "We know that our master returned early from his trip. Originally, we were supposed to arrive a few days later, but he gave us the order to go to his place as soon as possible. Can you tell us where Lord Naruto lives?"

* * *

AN: And yes, Naruto absolutely destroyed Darui. That was the point. Naruto is an S-class among S-class ninjas. The fact that Darui even managed to land a blow on Naruto was miraculous and was because Naruto wasn't taking him seriously (i.e. using purely spiritual energy & only defending at the time).


End file.
